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Japanese zen gardens

Byodo-in
The Byodo-in at Uji faces a garden intended to simulate the Western Paradise of Amida Buddhism. This sort of "Amida" garden was not uncommon in the Heian Period, and remnants of such gardens can be found at sites like Saiho-ji, but only here at Uji can one see an extant Heian building confronting its pond garden. The central chapel and its flanking pavilions were originally part of a country estate built in the early eleventh century by Fujiwara Michinaga and remodelled by his son Yorimichi. The style of the architecture is Chinese—as one might expect in a Buddhist structure of the time—but the juxtaposition of a pond garden with pavilions connected by roofed corridors is an echo of the noble villas and gardens of the Heian Period. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.
Chishaku-in
Chishaku-in is a temple of the Chizan School of Shingon Buddhism. Erected in 1585 over the site of an earlier temple founded by Hi...

Posted by: Jack Drewes

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