Daisen-in(7): Sho-in-no-ma: where Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Sen no Rikyu enjoyed taking tea

There is an interesting tradition about a room called Shoin-no-ma, or drawing room, located to the northeast of Hojo. 

This room once was a tea house called Suisho-shitsu, where the grand tea master Sen no Rikyu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi once enjoyed taking tea together. 

Toyotomi Hideyoshi is the man who unified Japan in the Warring States period in the 16th century. 

It is said that while enjoying a cup of green tea, Toyotomi Hideyoshi all of a sudden ordered Sen no Rikyu to carry out a flower arrangement on the spot. 

Using his imagination, Sen no Rikyu responded to the request by using a stone that lay in the garden as a vase and placing flowers in the stone. 

Seeing this quick response, Toyotomi Hideyoshi praised Sen no Rikyu’s innovative idea of placing the flowers in such a simple vase as an example of out-of-the-box thinking. 

However, the close relationship between Sen no Rikyu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn’t last long. 

Later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku—an act of ritual suicide more commonly known as hara-kiri among English speakers—after he supposedly took offence at Sen no Rikyu’s creation of a second floor in the San-mon gate of Daitoku-ji where an image of Sen no Rikyu was enshrined. 

It is said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was furious because the notion of passing under the feet of Sen no Rikyu, his inferior, was a deep humiliation for him. 

However, the real reason for his order remains a mystery. 

What do you suppose they talked about in this tea house 400 years ago?

 It is interesting to speculate what could have happened in this small room at that time.

Daisen-in(6): A dry landscape garden created for Zen practices

The Hojo garden of Daisen-in is a garden which had a major impact on the generations which came after. 

Before this garden came into existence, gardens had been created for ornamental purposes and sometimes in order to show off the power of their influential owners to their guests. 

However, the dry landscape garden of Daisen-in was created by the head priest Kogaku Soko for carrying out Zen practices. 

A dry landscape garden is a garden style that represents natural features, such as mountains and rivers, without using water. 

Originally, monks believed that the ideal place for Zen training was untamed nature, a place where monks could reflect on themselves in a tranquil natural environment. 

Kogaku Soko tried to recreate this ideal practicing environment in the limited space of a temple located in the city. 

Through grasping the very essence of Zen, Kogaku Soko’s passion allowed him ultimately to create a garden great enough to have a significant influence on gardens in Zen temples throughout the country. 

Focus your thoughts as you look at this garden. 

This is a chance to catch a glimpse of the very essence of the Zen spirit.

Daisen-in(5): Hojo Garden: depicting majestic nature

The garden situated in front of the Hojo is the renowned Hojo Garden of Daisen-in. 

The outstanding feature of this garden is the way it depicts great natural features within a limited space as a series of stories. 

See if you can find creatures and ships appearing in this story. 

This garden was created by Kogaku Soko, the founding priest of this temple, in 1509. 

In the northeast corner of the temple grounds stands a stately-looking large stone. 

This stone is intended to resemble Mt. Horai, a legendary Chinese mountain where a hermit with spiritual powers is believed to live. 

A waterfall flowing from Mt. Horai is divided into west and east, with each forming a river flowing into the ocean. 

On the white sand representing the river, a ship represented by a stone sails ahead at a leisurely pace, its bow rising high into the air. 

Behind the river, a stone arrangement represents a row of mountains. 

Looking at this garden through the window in the building, the window frame serves as a picture frame for the scene, allowing you to enjoy it as if it were a superb painting. 

This is a place where you can imagine the kind of majestic nature that forms a backdrop to a legendary story, as you appreciate the beauty of this landscape filled with symbols of Buddhist beliefs, recreated here with rocks and sand.

Daisen-in(4): Sliding-door paintings created by a top-ranking painter of the time

Each room in Hojo features valuable partition wall paintings created by a superb artist of 500 years ago. 

One such artwork is called Shiki Kacho-zu, literally meaning “Picture of flowers and birds in four seasons,” created by a painter called Kano Motonobu who served as the second head of the renowned Kano school.

 It uses a range of colors to depict not only the texture of plants and rocks, but also the lively movement of birds. 

Another picture is called Shiki Kosaku-zu, literally meaning “Picture of farming in four seasons,” painted by Kano Yukinobu, who was a brother of Kano Motonobu. 

It is an ink painting depicting a landscape of peaceful and idyllic farming scenery. 

The Kano school was a group of painters who played a central role in the world of Japanese painting over a period of 400 years from the 15th century to the 19th century.

 Another painting by Soami, an artist who gave Kano Motonobu advice about painting, also attracts the attention of visitors. 

Soami created a work called Shosho Hakkei-zu, literally meaning “Eight views of the Xiao and the Xiang in China,” which exhibits a beautiful landscape of a Chinese lake in eight different ways. 

Take a moment to truly appreciate these paintings, created by superb painters. 

Daisen-in(3): Hojo: still looking as it did 500 years ago

As you pass through the front gate and proceed along the stone pavement, Hojo, the priest’s living quarters, can be seen to your left. 

The Hojo of Daisen-in is a wooden building with a history going back 500 years. 

In this area of Kyoto which has suffered from many fires, this building has a special value for the way it has retained its original form from the early 16th century. At the Hojo of this temple, you will see a hallway that represents the starting point for a style of hallway that has continued to be seen right up to the present day in Japanese buildings. 

This hallway was built in 1513. Despite its simple and small-scale design, an exquisite openwork feature on the upper part of the door creates a very special touch. 

In addition, a room here called Sho-in, a drawing room, features Japan’s oldest tokonoma, a type of recess used in Japanese buildings.

 Look at it carefully. 

The black wooden edge on the wall in the back of the recess adds a pretty touch to this small space. 

The texture of this wooden edge gives you a clear sense of its long history of 500 years. 

The sense of “old Japan” is also apparent in the roof of Hojo which has been thatched with hiwada-buki, a traditional Japanese roofing style using cypress bark. 

Stop and get a sense of the history of the temple by experiencing the warm touch of the wood against your own hands. 

Daisen-in(2): Founded as a retreat of an important priest, Kogaku Soko

Daisen-in is a tatchu sub-temple of the Daitoku-ji temple compound, built by a feudal lord called Rokkaku Masayori in 1509. 

A tatchu sub-temple is a small temple built in or near the grounds of a main temple. 

Rokkaku Masayori was a feudal lord who ruled the territory around Lake Biwa. 

The 76th chief priest of Daitoku-ji, Kogaku Soko, became the founding priest of this temple, Daisen-in. Kogaku Soko was a well-known priest who became a close advisor to numerous aristocrats and influential feudal lords and even the emperor himself. 

As a result of his renowned achievements and contributions, he was given permission to build a retreat in the prestigious grounds of Daitoku-ji. 

To tell the truth, Kogaku Soko was actually a son of Rokkaku Masayori, the founder of this temple. 

Born into the feudal lord class, he later entered the priesthood to train himself in Buddhism as a Zen monk. 

Daisen-in is located on the north side of Hojo, the priest’s living quarters, in the head temple of Daitoku-ji. 

This tells us of the tremendous presence that Daisen-in has among the various tatchu sub-temples located in the Daitoku-ji complex. 

Visiting the grounds of Daisen-in, you can get a deep sense of the spirit of Zen as practiced by the great priest Kogaku Soko.

Daisen-in(1): A Zen temple featuring the greatest dry landscape garden of its era

Although many beautiful gardens exist in Kyoto, no survey of Zen gardens would be complete without appreciating the garden here at Daisen-in in person. 

This is because the garden situated in these temple grounds can be said to be the origin of the dry landscape garden concept, a style that has been passed down over 500 years to the present day. 

Dry landscape gardening is a style which aims to depict mountains and rivers without using water, a style which ultimately came to be seen as an indispensable part of any Zen temple. 

This tradition of the Zen-styled dry landscape garden actually started at Daisen-in. 

At the entrance of the temple grounds, you will find yourself welcomed by aged wooden buildings that have watched over the temple throughout its history. 

Inside the building, your eye will be caught by the partition paintings, created by the greatest artists of their era. 

Daisen-in is one of the few tatchu sub-temples in Daitoku-ji temple compound which are open to the public all year round. 

Looking at this famous garden and the temple architecture of Daisen-in, you will see the history of Zen culture, passed down for 500 years, being recreated before your eyes.