The Nine Mountains & Eight Seas Garden and the Mount Horai Pond Garden

 

This is the second post on the gardens at Kanyoji Temple in Yamaguchi.

The previous post looked at the temple and mostly the main garden and purely sand and rock courtyard garden.

This time we are looking at two gardens behind the temple, both quite narrow and they run into each other.

I was fortunate to be here during the peak of the autumn colours.

Kanyoji is a 14th century Rinzai Zen temple that is temple 15 on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, the reason I was visiting this time.

The running water in all the gardens at Kanyoji comes from Choondo Cave behind the temple. It is actually a man-made tunnel, 89 meters long, which brings water from the river. It was constructed in the 17th century.

The Mount Horai Pond Garden represents Mount Horai, which is the Japanese name for Mount Penglai, a  mountain and home of immortals in Chinese mythology.

The roots would seem to be in Daoism, a major influence on Japanese garden design which would include Crane and Turrtle islands.

Both this and the Nine Mountains garden are said to represent Kamakura Period styles, though the bold spirals on the sand are definitely Mirei Shigemori...

The Nine Mountain and Eight Seas Garden depict the landscape surounding Mount Sumeru, the central stone.

This is very much grounded in Buddhist cosmology, though it does have some Hindu origins.

Mount Sumeru is the centre of the world in Buddhist cosmology, and like Mount Horai, is a common motif in many gardens.

The gardens here at Kanyoji, and the gardens at Matsuo Shrine near Kyoto, are both considered masterworks of Mirei Shigemori.

Both were designed towards the end of his career, and both feature garden designs depicting various historical periods.

Matsu Shrine is obviously more accessible, but Kanyoji would be my favorite in the Autumn colors season.

The previous post in this series on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the other gardens here at Kanyoji.

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Kanyoji Temple Gardens Mirei Shigemori Masterpiece

 

Kanyoji is the 15th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and is located in the mountains of Yamaguchi.

It is a Rinzai Zen temple and was founded under the instructions of the Ouchi Clan who controlled much of the area.

It was founded by a Zen master, Yodo Myoki, who had spent 11 years studying in China.

The principal image is a Kannon.

What the temple is famous for are the 6 gardens designed by Mirei Shigemori, arguably the greatest garden designer of the 20th century.

He designed the gardens towards the end of his career, and many consider them a masterpiece, along with his gardens at Matsuo Shrine in Kyoto.

The gardens represent garden styles from different historical periods.

As you approach the temple you pass by the Sogen Itteki Garden (photo 3). Done in the gyokukan style from the Muromachi Period. On this visit I only took the one photo but I took many on a previous visit that I will post about one day.

Photos 8 through 14 show the Jizo Yuka Garden.

Unusual in that it can be viewed from all 4 directions.

A pure karesansui garden composed of just white sand and rocks.

Said to be a Heian Period style.

It is said to represent Jizo playing with a child.

The main garden is located in front of the main hall and is also representative of a Heian garden.

It is a "curved water garden" but also incorporates a karensanui garden.

Popular in the Heian and Kamakura Periods, a curved water garden was used to float sake cups down while nobles competed to write poems...

The large stone grouping in the corner of the garden represents Mount Horai.

Mount Horai is a mythical mountain in ancient China and a common motif in Japanese gardens. It is also represented in another of the gardens here at Kanyoji, which I will cover in the next post.

On this occasion, I was here on day 21 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

One of the gardens, the Garden of the Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, is in Shigemori's unique modern style, but is usually closed to the public. I was able to view it on my previous visit so will post pics of it eventually.

In the next post I will look at the two gardens to the rear of the temple.

The previous post was on the nearby Nishoyamada Shrine and its autumn foliage.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.