Sand, Gravel, and Stone: A Guide to Kyoto’s Gardens
Kyoto’s gardens are as varied as they are numerous. The fine raked gravel of Zen gardens, like an abstract painting, provoke contemplation. The stroll gardens, with their ponds and evergreens, foster mindfulness and offer a new view around every turn. And finally, there is the refined rustic simplicity of the tea garden, which provides an oasis of calm from the petty concerns of more worldly matters.
To help you navigate this complex world, I’ve put together the below primer to Kyoto’s gardens. Much of the information comes from my own experience traipsing through just about every garden (large and small) the city has to offer. I hope anyone reading this has an opportunity to visit the gardens themselves. Pictures and words can’t quite convey the palpable energy of many.
Kyoto Garden Design – a (very brief) Overview
Gardens in Kyoto are typically broken down into three types – stroll gardens, tea gardens, and dry gardens. Below is a brief overview of each type.
Stroll Gardens
The modern stroll garden has its roots in the pleasure gardens of the Nara and Heian periods (710 AD to 1185 AD). Inspired by the imperial gardens of China, these gardens were laid out according to traditional feng shui principles and often centered around a large, man-made pond.
The pond was often the focal point of activity in the garden. Revelers would sail around them in ornate lacquered boats, where they would compose poetry, play music, and take in the scenery.
Later stroll gardens employed more modest water features (which were expensive to build and maintain) but continued to cultivate an idealized form of natural beauty. By the Muromachi period (1336-1573), common features of stroll gardens included ornamental stones, moss (which grows well in Kyoto’s naturally cool and humid climate), pine trees, and seasonal elements such as cherry blossom trees and lotus ponds.
As the name stroll garden suggests, most include networks of well-maintained paths laid out to take one through a succession of picturesque viewpoints. Often the path will end at a particularly scenic spot, providing a climax to the journey around the garden.
Tea Gardens
The next type of garden is the tea garden – which as the name suggests, are built around traditional teahouses. These small gardens emphasize rustic simplicity, employing stone pathways, wooden fences and gates, and strategically placed trees to ensure privacy. They are meant to be an oasis of calm, facilitating the mental transition from the petty concerns of the day-to-day to the refined world of the teahouse.
Unfortunately, unless the tea garden is an integral part of a larger stroll garden, visitors are typically not permitted to enter. Keep an eye out for the traditional thatched-hut tea houses in the gardens you visit. Often, you’ll recognize the area surrounding it as a tea garden.
Dry Gardens
The final major branch of Kyoto gardens is the dry garden (often referred to as “Zen gardens” in the West) – which employ ornamental stones, raked gravel or sand, and sometimes moss.
The practice of cultivating dry gardens in Kyoto took off in the 14th century, when Zen monks who had studied in China brought the concept back to Kyoto. Among the most important proponents of such gardens was the famed monk Muso Soseki (1275-1351), who had dry gardens installed at Zen temples throughout the city.
Such gardens had many advantages. Firstly, they were much cheaper to build and maintain than more traditional stroll gardens. Moreover, the gravel and sand needed to build them were easily procured thanks to Kyoto’s many surrounding riverbeds.
Of course, the popularity of dry gardens was due to more than just practical considerations. The gravel expanse of a dry garden is like a canvas, allowing almost limitless opportunities for creative expression.
Rising to the challenge, Japanese monks imbued their gardens with an artistic vocabulary rich in symbolism. Gravel could be raked in patterns meant to evoke the flow of water or wind. Moss rises could represent Mount Sumeru (the abode of the gods in Hindu and Buddhist mythology) or the island of Horai (the dwelling place of Taoist immortals). Vertical outcrops of rocks suggested cranes and were paired with horizontal stones indicating turtles. Or the design could mean nothing at all – simply showcasing the natural beauty of sand and stone.
Often, the gardens were designed to be viewed from a single vantage point from within a structure, usually a meditation hall or the abbot’s quarters. Their abstract nature helped focus the mind, aiding the transition into a meditative state.
10 Notable Kyoto Gardens
With the above overview out of the way, lets dive into some of Kyoto’s most notable gardens.
1. Heian Jingu Shrine
Heian Jingu was opened in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of Kyoto. A replica of the original imperial palace, the shrine boasts an expansive set of gardens inspired by gardening trends across different periods in Japanese history.
Designed by famed landscape architect Ogawa Jihei VII (also known as Ueji) over a 20-year period, the garden is divided into four separate areas. One enters from the Western end, where you are immediately greeted by the temple’s famed weeping cherry blossom trees, said to be inspired by the aristocratic estates of the Heian period. Visit the garden in early April to catch them fully in bloom.
From here, you stroll north, where you encounter the garden’s first pond, with its curving shores. The focal point is a peninsula, which juts out into the lake. It is marked by its rocky borders and twisting low pine tree.
You then continue east along an artificial stream, notable for its “crumbling stone” embankment. This opens into the beautiful Chusin-en garden, with its curving green shores and famous steppingstones made from the piers of two centuries-old bridges.
After taking in the pond, you head south to the final section, the Toshinen garden. Centered around the large Seiho pond, the garden’s highlight is the wooden Taiheikaku covered bridge. Viewed from the north with Mount Kacho looming in the background, the garden has the feel of an idyllic mountain retreat – a fitting the culmination to Ueji’s epic set of gardens.
Visiting information: Heian Jingu is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm everyday, with later closings during certain months. Cost to enter is 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children.
For the most up to date information, see: http://www.heianjingu.or.jp/index.html
2. Nijo Castle
Completed in 1603, Nijo Castle famously served as the site where Tokugawa Ieyasu took the title of Shogun and where – 264 years later – Tokugawa Yoshinobu relinquished it. Nijo Castle’s political role has long taken precedence over its function as a defensive fortification, with palaces and gardens prioritized over barracks and training grounds.
The most famous garden at Nijo Castle is the Ninomaru Garden, which lies behind the Ninomaru-goten Palace. The garden (which was meant to evoke the legendary Taoist paradise of Penglai) was built around a large pond and features a waterfall, stone bridges, and small mounds. Large ornamental rocks line the entire shore of the pond, which are dotted with a variety of evergreens. This creates a lush, rugged landscape, which feels oddly appropriate to a setting synonymous with political power.
The other notable garden within the castle is the Hanmaru garden next to the palace of the same name. This garden was said to have been built according to the exacting instructions of the Emperor Meiji, who took possession of the castle following Yoshinobu’s abdication. This garden also features pines and a long grass lawn, though there are no water features.
When visiting the Hanmaru garden, be sure to climb the watch tower in the southwest corner for great views of the castle and the city beyond.
A third garden – the Seiryu Garden – was added in 1965 along the northern side of Nijo Castle. This garden hosts two tea houses and incorporates elements of both traditional Japanese and western garden designs.
Visiting information: Nijo castle is open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. The combined cost to visit both the castle and the palace is 1,300 yen for adults, 400 yen for high school/junior high students, and 300 yen for primary-school aged children. For the most up to date information, see: https://nijo-jocastle.city.kyoto.lg.jp/guide/annai/?lang=en
3. Tenryu-Ji
Tenryu-ji hosts the exquisite Sogenchi Garden, which remains largely unchanged from the design of its first abbot, the influential spiritual leader Muso Soseki.
This 700-year-old garden is largely based on earlier Heian models, with a central pond surrounded by rocky outgrowths, plentiful greenery, and meandering paths. In the spring, cherry blossoms and azaleas bloom throughout the garden, while in the fall the foliage turns vibrant shades of red and orange.
In the distance is Mt Arashiyama, which when viewed from the Hojo (abbot’s quarters) appears to blend seamlessly into the garden – an effect known as borrowed scenery.
On both sides of the Hojo are large dry gardens of raked gravel. Soseki had such gardens built in all the major Zen monasteries in Kyoto, popularizing what had until then been an obscure form of landscape design in Japan.
Visiting Information: Tenryu-ji is open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. To see the gardens and the abbot’s quarters costs 800 yen for adults and 600 yen for children. To view the cloud dragon painting in the lecture hall costs 500 yen.
For the latest information, see: https://www.tenryuji.com/en
4. Kinkaku-Ji
Kinkaku-Ji – the Temple of the Golden Pavilion – ranks among Kyoto’s best-known attractions. Though a Zen temple, the individual for whom it was built – the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu – sought for the garden to also evoke the promised Western Paradise of Pure Land Buddhism.
The namesake golden pavilion sits on the edge of a pond surrounded by a traditional stroll garden. Its gold leaf reflects brilliantly off the water, shimmering in the pond as one walks around it.
While one’s attention is naturally fixed on the pavilion, it is the carefully cultivated surroundings that make this temple truly unique. Surrounded by evergreens, the mossy forest floor, and the rocky edges of the pond, the bright pavilion takes on the feel of a mirage.
It is this contrast – the refined natural setting of the garden on the one hand and the ostentatious golden pavilion on the other – that makes Kinkaku-ji not just a garden but a work of art.
Visiting Information: Kinkaku-ji is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day. The entrance fee is 500 yen for adults and 300 for children. For the must up to date information, see:
https://www.shokoku-ji.jp/en/kinkakuji/access
5. Ginkaku-ji
Kinkaku-ji isn’t the only gardening legacy of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Yoshimitsu’s grandson – Ashikaga Yoshimasa – would later build his own garden, which like his grandfather’s estate was converted into a Zen temple after his death. This temple became known as Ginkaku-ji – the Temple of the Silver Pavilion.
Unlike Kinkaku-ji, the pavilion in this garden is not actually silver. Rather, the name is likely a reference to the silver light that would bathe the pavilion during the moon watching parties Yoshimasa frequently hosted in his gardens.
Though of similar size to Kinkaku-ji, the landscaping arrangement at Ginkaku-ji is more complex. One enters in front of a dry garden made of raked gravel, carefully sculpted into neat diagonal lines. Toward the southern end is a large conical rise – referred to as a moon viewing platform.
From here, one strolls around the pond, which has more the feel of a meandering stream – a departure from the larger bodies of water in Heian-style gardens. Vibrant green moss blankets the grounds, while bridges and ornamental stones dot the landscape. These stones, gifts from regional daimyos, are said to have been installed under the direct supervision of Yoshimasa.
From here, one climbs to the upper garden, which provides great views over the temple and the city beyond. It was here that Yoshimasa would often treat his guests to tea. After visiting the overlook, one descends through a bamboo forest which leaves you directly in front of the pavilion, where the path terminates.
Between the stroll garden, the pavilion, the carefully raked gravel, and scenic overlook, one can see in Ginkaku-ji a masterful treatment of almost every dimension of Japanese gardening.
Visiting Information: The silver pavilion is open from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm December through February and 8:30 am to 5:00 pm other months. Tickets to enter the garden are 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for children.
For the most up to date information, see: https://www.shokoku-ji.jp/en/ginkakuji/access/
6. Ryoan-Ji
Established in 1450, Ryoan-ji hosts the most famous dry-rock garden in the world. From the broad veranda of the Hojo (Abbot’s Quarters), the garden extends ten meters toward a rustic clay wall. It holds 15 ornamental stones in all, some on rises of moss, scattered at odd intervals across an expanse of course raked gravel.
Like an abstract-expressionist painting, many have attempted to read into the positioning of the stones various symbolic meanings. These range from a tiger family crossing a river, to islands in a current, to allusions to esoteric numerology. Whatever the symbolism, for connoisseurs of dry garden design, this is the apex.
Aside from the rock garden, Ryoan-Ji also hosts a wonderful stroll garden. Centered around a pond lined with trees, the garden blooms with cherry blossoms in the spring and transforms into bright shades of rouge and orange in the autumn. A small island with a shrine serves as a focal point for views around the lake, while the hills to the north offer a bit of borrowed scenery.
Visiting Information: Ryoan-ji is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm between March and November and 8:30 am to 4:30 pm December through February. Entrance fee is 600 yen for adults, 500 yen for high school students, and 300 yen for younger children.
For the most up to date information, see: http://www.ryoanji.jp/smph/eng/
7. Tofuku-Ji
For a more modern take on the dry garden design, there is no better place to visit than the Hasso gardens around the Hojo (Abbot’s Quarters) at Tofuki-ji.
These four gardens were laid out in 1939 following the inspired designs of Mirei Shigemori. They incorporate both traditional Zen symbolism together with a more modern touch. Notable elements include the fading checkerboard slabs in the northern garden and the seven stone pillars placed in the shape of the Big Dipper in the eastern garden.
Though the employment of hard straight lines (as in the checkerboard) runs against the naturalistic style of traditional gardens, the composition is nevertheless appealing and offers a novel take on traditional Zen symbolism.
Tofuku-ji is also famous for the stroll garden in front of its founder’s hall. Built over the gentle slopes of a shallow gorge, the garden is famous for its 2,000 maple trees, which turn a riot of colors during the autumn foliage season.
Over the gorge runs a long covered wooden bridge, from which one can take in the bucolic splendor of the surrounding garden
Visiting Information: Tofuku-ji is open from 9:00-16:30 most days, with slightly longer hours during the fall foliage season and shorter hours during winter. A combined ticket to visit the Hasso garden and cross the Tsutenkyo bridge costs 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children. The price rises to 1,500 yen for adults and 600 yen for children during the autumn foliage season.
For the most up to date information, see: https://tofukuji.jp/guide/
8. Enko-ji
Enko-ji in northeastern Kyoto is a hidden treasure. Founded in 1601, the temple features spectacular dry and stroll gardens.
Upon entering, one first encounters the dry garden. Here, long grey-green stones are placed so as to suggest a dragon peaking above the clouds. The effect is reinforced by the swirling patterns of the white sand, which appears to move in eddies stirred by barely the concealed giant. Texture is added to the swirls through the use of tiles implanted into the ground, which allows the sand to be stacked.
Next, one enters the small stroll garden, which features a pond, a bamboo grove, maple trees, and azalea bushes. A trail leads up to an overlook above the garden, which while not particularly high, nevertheless offers stunning views of the city unfolding to the south.
Visiting Information: Enko-ji is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Cost to enter is 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children.
For the latest information, see: http://www.enkouji.jp/en/visit/
9. Konchi-in
A sub-temple of Nanzen-ji, Konchi-in was established by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi around 1400. Over the centuries the temple fell into disrepair before being refurbished by the powerful abbot of Nanzen-ji, Ishin Suden, around 1600.
As one walks around the gardens, the temple’s story unfolds. One begins at a pond, behind which stands a stone torii (spirit gate). Through the torii one glimpses the temple’s famed dry garden. However, approaching it at this stage would be premature.
Instead, one continues past the pond to a long tree-lined stone walkway, with vibrant green moss pressing in from both sides. At the end of the walkway is another stone torii, through which is an elegant Shinto shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Around the shrine, one heads to the founder’s hall filled with its rows of statuary.
Only after visiting the founder’s hall does one approach the garden glimpsed earlier, the famed Crane and Turtle Garden. As the name suggests, the central features are a turtle island on one side (marked by its long flat stones) and a crane island on the other (with stones arranged vertically). The crane and turtle are common symbols in Zen gardens. When paired together, they suggest a unity of opposing natures – with the turtle swimming beneath the sea and the crane taking flight.
Between the islands is a grouping of three stones symbolizing the Buddhist triad, which in Japan is the Sakyamuni Buddha flanked by the bodhisattvas Monju (Manjushri) and Fugen (Samantabhadra).
This grouping (both the islands and the triad) is framed by the neatly raked gravel in front and the hills behind, suggesting a sacredness to which even nature is beholden.
Visiting Information: Konchi-In is open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm most months. From December to February, it closes at 4:30 pm. Cost to enter is 500 yen.
10. Taizo-in
A sub-temple of Myoshin-ji, Taizo-in was founded in 1404 by a feudal lord who converted to Zen. To say that this small temple is rich in gardens would be an understatement.
The first garden one encounters lies off the Abbot’s Quarters. Designed by the famed artist Kano Motonubu, the small garden uses rocks and gravel to mimic the waters and undulating shoreline of a pond. Toward the back is a small rise, down which tumbles an assortment of smooth stones representing a waterfall.
After this, one moves to the larger gardens, which were designed by Kinsaku Nakane and installed only in 1956.
The entrance to the garden is flanked by two dry rock gardens – one of white sand featuring a crane island and one of dark sand with a turtle island. At the center of the yin-yang pairing is a weeping cherry tree, glorious when fully in bloom.
Past the entrance, one walks down a gently descending path past an undulating patchwork of low-cut azalea bushes and moss. At the end, one reaches a pond. Here, the entire garden unfolds before you. A stream running the length of the garden becomes visible, as does a waterfall towards the entrance. Crowning it all is the cherry blossom tree at the entrance, which still visibly stands a cut above everything else in the garden.
Visiting Information: Taizo-In opens from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The cost to enter is 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children.
For the most up-to-date information, see: http://www.taizoin.com/en/