Photo Gallery

Tōfuku-ji Temple - 東福寺 (built 1236 onward)

Tōfuku-ji derives its name from two temples in Nara, Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji. It was established in 1236 by the Kamakura-era regent Kujō Michiie (1193-1252), and grew to become one of the Kyoto Gozan "Five Great Zen Temples in Kyoto" (京都五山), along with Tenryu-ji (天龍寺), Shōkoku-ji (相国寺), Kennin-ji (建仁寺), and Manju-ji (満寿寺). This ranking system excludes Nanzen-ji (南禅寺) which presides over the five in a class of its own.

Like most temples in Kyoto, Tōfuku-ji has been ravaged by fire numerous times, and none of its many buildings survive from Kujō's era. The oldest extant structure is the main gate, or Sammon (三門), dating from 1425. Considered a National Treasure, the gate was dismantled in 1969 by the Ministry of Culture and reassembled nine years later after a thorough restoration. Other surviving buildings from the early Muromachi period include the Zendō (meditation hall), Tōsu (toilet), and Yokushitsu (bath house).

Some of Tōfuku-ji's outstanding architecture and landscaping dates from the inter-war years of the 20th century. At that time, the noted landscape architect and cultural historian Shigemori Mirei was invited to redesign the gardens of the Hōjo, or Abbot's quarters, which had been rebuilt a half century earlier in 1889 following a fire. Rather than slavishly copy past precidents or build in a completely modern style, Shigemori chose a middle route that gave new interpretation to traditional elements in Japanese garden design. This resulted in four distinctive gardens surrounding the Hōjo on each of its sides. The garden to the south of the Shoin is at first glance similar to other kare sansui gardens such as those at Ryōan-ji and Nanzen-ji, but Shigemori dispensed with subtlety by dividing the garden with a bold diagonal that separates the garden into two areas of raked sand and grassy knolls. Although both elements can be found in traditional garden design, Shigemori introduced jagged, strongly vertical rocks that are unprecidented and novel.

The remaining three gardens are even more boldly designed, and depart significantly from traditional themes. The eastern garden contains seven stone cylinders reused from the foundations stones of older temple buildings. Symbolically, these seven stones represent the seven stars in the Big Dipper constellation. The north and west gardens are dominated by a checkerboard geometry. In the case of the north garden, stones provide the checkerboard design, and in the west, shrubs are cut into geometric forms.

Plan view

Image drawn by Timothy M Ciccone, copyright 2009.