- Address: Tofukuji Temple, Kyoto, 605-0981, Japan
- Phone: +81 75-561-0087
- Official website: tofukuji.jp
- Date of construction: 1236
In the city of Kyoto , which has long been considered a national treasure trove and personification of Japanese culture, today there are about 2,000 churches, some of which are protected by UNESCO. One of the greatest shrines of the city is the Tofukuji Zen Buddhist temple or as it is also called - the Temple of the Treasures of the East. Every year thousands of tourists come here to look at the gentle hills, picturesque small rivers, elegant bridge, unique architecture and a collection of traditional paintings.
A bit of history
The foundation of the Tofukuji temple dates back to the 13th century, and the initiator of its construction in 1236 was the imperial chancellor and prominent politician of that time, Kuyo Mitie. After the construction of the shrine in the southeast of Kyoto, the Chancellor appointed the monk Anni, the principal priest of the Tofukuji Temple, who studied the Zen Buddhist directions of the Rinzai School in China. In the name of the Temple of the Treasures of the East, the names of the two largest shrines of the city of Nara -Kofukudzi and Todaidzi are united . In the XV century. Tofukuji suffered very badly from the fire, but was completely restored.
Architectural features
Initially, the temple complex Tofukuji consisted of 54 buildings, until our days only 24 churches have been preserved. The main gate of the Temple of Sammon survived, which are considered the oldest of the gates of Zen Buddhist temples in Japan. Their height reaches 22 m. Especially attractive place in Japan Tofukuji becomes in the autumn, when leaves of magnificent maples are painted in bright colors, combined with the traditional architecture of the temple.
On the territory of the temple complex there are many gardens, made in different styles and original directions. The largest of them are:
- The northern garden is in the form of a rectangular area, on which there are moss cobbles and square stone tiles. The edges of the area are framed by low shrubs;
- The southern garden , consisting of several groups of stones and boulders, which are located on a grainy plot. Feature of this garden is a single bonsai;
- Western garden , which is a combination of bushes azaleas, designed in the form of parallelepipeds, garden bonsai, individual bushes and mossy lawns;
- East garden , made of a mixture of cylindrical gray stones of different heights, which in their arrangement resemble the constellation of the Great Bear;
- The Hojo Garden , which became the home of the temple attendants, consists of azaleas bushes planted on a field of crushed stone and mossy lawns.
How to get to Tofukuji?
The Temple complex is a 10-minute walk from Tofukuji Subway Station, where the Keihan and JR Nara trains run. A trip from the main station of Kyoto to the Tofukuji station takes no more than 4 minutes.