Kokedera (Saihō-ji)

  • Address: 56 Jingadani-chō, Nishikyō-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Prefecture ( rough location)
  • Founder: Gyōki
  • Restored by: Musō Soseki
  • Founded: 729`749
  • Restored: 1339

A temple of Rinzai Sect. Also called Moss (koke) Temple.
From 1977, reservations are required at least 7 working days prior to the intended visit. After paying the highest fee of 3,000 yen in Kyoto, before being permitted access to the garden, visitors must engage in some activities, zazen (sitting meditation), hand copying of sutras (shakyō), and chanting sutras.
It is said that Mr. Steve Jobs, the founder of the Apple, often visited this temple with his family.





A little bridge over the pond "Ōgonchi", Golden Pond




A little bridge paved with soil




A tree which reminds me of the Red Prunus on a pair of screens of Ogata Kōrin,
"Kōbai-Hakubai-zu-byōbu"




A little opening in the garden - 1




A little opening in the garden - 2




A little stream with "Shōjōbakama", Heloniopsis orientalis (upper left)




Stone arrangement called "Shumisen", Mount Meru
(a mountain considered as the center of the universe in Hindu mythology)




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