Term archive
投稿タイプ：sightseeing
Ryogon-ji Temple
Ryogon-ji Temple, in Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture, is famous for the thousands of azaleas that bloom in the spring, and lotuses in the summer. In fact, Ryogon-ji Temple is the second of the 25 Most Famous Flower Temples of Western Japan. The temple grounds are also home to a 400 year-old camellia, a 500 year-old bo tree, and a 400 year-old crape myrtle, all of them ranked in the Top Hundred Ancient Trees of Ayabe. The sliding paper doors within Ryogon-ji Temple are patterend with crows in all four seasons, painted by the unique painter Ikka Nagai, famous for crow motifs. These patterns earned the temple the nickname Temple of Crows. (Visitors wishing to see the crows on the sliding paper doors must make a reservation prior to visiting.)
投稿タイプ：sightseeing
Horyu-ji Toko-in Temple
Horyu-ji Toko-in Temple, situated in Kyoto Prefecture’s Ayabe City, was built in 673 by the ascetic Rishu Sennin. A temple of the Koyasan Shingonshu branch, Horyu-ji Toko-in enshrines Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru), which is the buddha of healing and medicine. In its prime, it even had a Shichido garan (the seven halls composing the ideal Buddhist temple compound) construction. However, the temple has seen its ups and downs after several large fires and disasters.
Every year, in time with the peach season, the temple holds the Hina Festival, otherwise known as the Doll’s Festival or the Daughters’ Festival. 12 giant doll stands decorated with 500 Hina dolls, the same as those used in the Meiji era (1868-1912), can be seen at the temple during this time.
In early June, 2,500 hydrangeas bloom across the temple grounds, painting them with color. At the same time, the temple holds a Furin (wind chime) Festival, decorating the square before the main shrine with 750 wind chimes that make soothing music in the wind.
A matchmaker monk by the name of Chisokuin Mukaku, who introduced the famous samurai Sakamoto Ryoma to his wife, was one of the temple's believers. His writing was carved in stone at the temple, and has now become a spot for believers to pray for good matchmaking.
投稿タイプ：sightseeing
Ungen-ji Temple
Situated in Kyoto Prefecture's Ayabe City, Ungen-ji Temple is thought to have been built in the Muromachi era (1336 - 1573) by the head monk of nearby Ankoku-ji Temple.
At the top of the stone steps leading to the temple entrance stands a beautiful weeping cherry blossom tree. Thought to be over 100 years old, it was selected as one of the 100 famous trees of Ayabe City.
The cherry blossom tree is said to have been taken from a branch at Ankoku-ji Temple (a larger temple with a 600-year-old cherry blossom tree), a temple that has connections to Ashikaga Takauji (the first shogun of the Muromachi era). Continuing up the stone steps past the Kannon Hall, there is a stunning view of the magnificent weeping cherry blossom and the mountains in the distance.
投稿タイプ：sightseeing
Shoreki-ji Temple
Located in Ayabe City next to the Yura-gawa River, Shoreki-ji Temple was built in the year 942. The temple enshrines a statue of the bodhisattva Kannon carved by the temple’s founder, Kuya, a famous priest in the Heian era (794-1185). The statue can only be seen by the public every 33 years. Some of the temple's other treasures include a Thousand-Armed Kannon statue (a designated cultural property of Ayabe City) and a nirvana painting (an Important Cultural Property).
The dry rock garden, which was built in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1868), is a designated scenic spot in Kyoto Prefecture. There are annually flowering plants such as azaleas and bushclover that color the garden throughout the seasons, as well as many ancient trees, including a zelkova tree selected as one of the ten famous trees of Ayabe City.