Month: June 2026

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Murin-anｰgarden（無鄰菴）

Following the opening of the Lake Biwa Canal during the Meiji era, many residences with gardens incorporating water from the canal were built around Nanzenji Temple. Murin-an is one such example. It was the villa of Yamagata Aritomo, a politician of the Meiji and Taisho periods, and is considered a masterpiece of modern Japanese garden design, created by the gardener Jihei Ogawa VII.
The room used for the “Murin-an Conference,” where diplomatic negotiations before the Russo-Japanese War were discussed, has been preserved as it was.


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Kōshōji Temple （Oribe Temple)　（興聖寺　織部寺）

Kōshōji Temple is a Rinzai Zen temple located in Nishijin, Kyoto.
It is associated with Furuta Oribe, a daimyo (feudal lord) and tea master, and is also known as Oribe-dera (Oribe Temple).
Although it is located in the middle of town, its quiet garden with beautiful moss is highly recommended.
Here, you’ll find a unique feature: a “descending tsukubai,” a type of water basin where the ground is deeply dug out, and a spiral stone staircase leads down to the top where the water basin is placed.

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Daigo-ji Temple（醍醐寺）

Daigo-ji Temple is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, and is one of Kyoto’s World Heritage Sites.
It houses a large collection of Buddhist statues, paintings, and historical documents, with an estimated 70,000 items designated as National Treasures and 100,000 as Important Cultural Properties.
The five-story pagoda is the oldest wooden structure in Kyoto Prefecture, retaining its original form for over 1,000 years.
It is also famous for the “Daigo no Hanami” cherry blossom viewing event, once hosted by a renowned warlord.

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Nanzen-ji Temple（南禅寺）

Nanzen-ji Temple, located in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture, is the head temple of the Nanzen-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism.
During the Muromachi period, it was ranked among the highest of the Kyoto Five Mountains and Kamakura Five Mountains, established by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as a ranking system for Rinzai Zen temples.
The spacious temple grounds are surrounded by abundant nature, offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature throughout the seasons.

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Giō-ji Temple（祇王寺）

Giō-ji Temple is a Shingon sect Daikaku-ji branch temple (nunnery) located in Saga, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City.
It is a thatched-roof hut that appears in “The Tale of the Heike.” It is said that Giō, who lost the favor of Taira no Kiyomori, became a nun with her sister and mother and spent the rest of her life there.


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