Toji-in was founded in 1338 by Lord Ashikaga as a family temple, under supervision of priest Soseki Muso who was then one of the most famous landscape gardener (and who later founded Tenryu-ji). The garden of Toji-in is one of the few surviving gardens designed by Soseki.
The main garden is divided in two parts. The western one, called the "lotus pond" is closest to the main temple buildings and organized around the winding pond. slightly above the garden is a well known tea house ("Seiren-tei"). This part of the garden also has numerous satsuki and tsutsuji rhododendrons which give a nice pink/red colour touch in late spring. The second, eastern part of the garden has taller trees and is thus much darker. It is a place of moss and maple trees, and is thus most beautiful in autumn. South of the main hall is another smaller garden, of the "dry landscape" type (karesansui - 枯山水).
Toji-in is located right south of the Ritsumeikan University which is one of the major campus in Kyoto. Combined with its proximity with Ryoan-ji one may think that it is a busy temple, but in fact Toji-in is remarkably quiet. Recommended for: Access: 500 円 Nearby: Ryōan-ji 龍安寺 (580m), Chōkei-in 長慶院 (700m), Keishun-in 桂春院 (760m), Tenkyū-in 天球院 (780m), Hirano-jinja 平野神社 (810m), Kingyū-in 金牛院 (820m), Yotoku-in 養徳院 (830m), Daiō-in 大雄院 (830m), Chishō-in 智勝院 (840m), Rinshō-in 麟祥院 (890m),... External links: ウィキペディア, Wikipedia, Wikipédia, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Marutake, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, Ukyo-ku, 等持院, Toji-in, temple, 寺院, 仏閣 Statistics: visited on 15 occasions, id 413, 39 photos (101 extra photos can be found in the archive). |
