Ryoanji Temple

Ryoan-ji is a Zen temple of the Rinzai school (Myoshin-ji branch), renowned for its kare-sansui rock garden known as the “Stone Garden.” It was founded in 1450 (Hōtoku 2) by Hosokawa Katsumoto, a key shogunate official, after he received a mountain villa belonging to Toku-daiji Kō. It was soon destroyed in the Onin War, then later rebuilt; it is said that the hojo (abbot’s quarters) and rock garden were created at that time. The garden—also called the “Tiger Cubs Crossing Garden” or the “Shichi-Go-San Garden”—covers only about 75 tsubo (approx. 248 m²), enclosed on three sides by low, weathered earthen walls. White gravel is raked around 15 stones of varying sizes, expressing Zen aesthetics through extreme simplicity. To the south lies Kyoyochi Pond, surrounded by a strolling garden that offers seasonal flowers throughout the year. The original temple grounds were reportedly much larger, extending as far as the Keifuku Railway line. In 1994, Ryoan-ji was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.”