After a very long day of traveling, and a good night’s sleep, what better place to begin a visit to Japan than at the Garden of Origins and Journeys.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site has many names. Long, long ago Prince Shotoku built a villa here, and in 731 Buddhist priest and bodhisattva Gyoki founded Saihoji 西芳寺 temple. You start your visit in the temple, with shoes off tracing the words of a sutra.
Hundreds of years later, in 1339 Master Zen gardener Muso Soseki restored the temple for the Rinzai Sect. Many noblemen and shoguns visited the temple on their trips to Kyoto. Tea ceremony houses remain throughout the grounds.
The temple also goes by the name Kokedera 苔寺 which translates to Moss Temple. There are said to be over 120 varieties of moss on the grounds. Let’s look at some.
The garden is closed in January and February when the mosses rest. Covered with leaves. When the time to wake comes, gardeners tend the site daily, sweeping leaves off the moss.
The pond in the middle of the garden is shaped like the Japanese character for “heart” or “mind.” Boats once took visitors to three islands in the pond— Horai (Endless Happiness), Tsuru (Crane), and Kame (Turtle).
Rocks in the pond are said to be ships anchored off the coast of Paradise.
Muso Soseki who designed the garden in the 14th century wrote, “It is delusion to think that the pure world of paradise and the profane world of the present are different.”
The temple and gardens are only open for a few hours each day. The admission cost is much higher than any other gardens in Kyoto. The city buses stop a long distance away, as must tour buses, to keep the area quiet, reduce pollution, and let this piece of paradise remain still to be able to journey while in rooted in the Earth.
