Shisen-do (Kyoto)

 temple, garden, interesting place, buddhist temple, Japanese garden

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www.kyoto-shisendo.com/En/top.html (English)
www.kyoto-shisendo.com/ (Japanese)

27 monguchi-cho, Ichijo-ji, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto city, 606-8154
TEL +81-75-781-2954
FAX +81-75-721-9450

Officially named "Outotsu-ka". A Soto Zen sect temple listed under Eihei-ji (the head temple).
It is registered as a historic site of Japan. It stands on the grounds of its founder, the Edo period intellectual Ishikawa Jōzan (1583–1672), who established the temple in 1641.

A room in the main temple displays portraits of thirty-six Chinese poets. The selection of the poets was based on the opinion of Hayashi Razan. The portraits were executed by Kanō Tan'yū. This and some other parts of the building date to the time of Ishikawa Jōzan.

The temple's gardens are considered masterworks of Japanese gardens. One of them includes a device called a sōzu, a type of shishi-odoshi designed to scare away wild animals such as deer by making a loud noise. Water trickles into a bamboo tube, and when it reaches a certain level, it upsets the balance of the tube. The tube tips over on a pivot, discharging the water, and turns upright, striking a rock and emitting a loud clapping noise.

Amazing sculpted Azaleas, stands of Bamboo, and the Autumn colours are spectacular.