Soken-in is a sub-temple of the large Daitoku-ji temple complex. Soken-in was founded in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to mark the first anniversary of the death of Oda Nobunaga who was assassinated by one of his vassal. The founding abbot was Kokei Sochin who is famous for his work on the tea ceremony; this explains the presence of three tea rooms in this temple.
The temple has very large grounds that are sparsely built, by Japanese standards anyway. Few parts of the temple are particularly interesting, and adding to this the fact that the temple is only open during the high season means that most travellers will just skip the visit. One interesting bit is the temple well: its large crown stone was cut from a single block in... Korea. The reason? Apparently, labour was cheaper there. 500 years ago, off-shoring was already taking place! There's also a mound for paying respect to used tea whisks (!) and Japan's oldest camellia bush (400 years old) which was a favourite of Hideyoshi himself. Recommended for: Access: Nearby: Kōtō-in 高桐院 (200m), Kōrin-in 興臨院 (220m), Kōro-an 皐盧庵茶舗 (220m), Imamiya-jinja 今宮神社 (240m), Gyokurin-in 玉林院 (260m), Zuihō-in 瑞峯院 (260m), Ryōgen-in 龍源院 (280m), Ōbai-in 黄梅院 (310m), Daikō-in 大光院 (330m), Takeisao-jinja 建勲神社 (650m),... External links: ウィキペディア, Wikipedia, Wikipédia, Kyoto Navi, 京都風光, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, Kita-ku, 大徳寺, Daitoku-ji, temple, 寺院, 仏閣, 総見院, Soken-in, subtemple, 塔頭 Statistics: visited on 2 occasions, id 309, 3 photos. |
