DAITOKU-JI

This temple is actually an imposing complex of 22 temples, all surrounded by a wall around Daitoku-ji. Only some of them are permanently open. Others open irregularly or are entirely closed to the public. The complex is one of the jewels in the crown of Zen architecture. Here you can discover the rigor, richness and simplicity of this culture. A temple of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, Daitoku-ji was founded in 1319 by the monk Kokushi Daitō (1282-1337). Initially modest in size, the temple burned down in 1468, during the Onin civil war. It was rebuilt by Ikkyū in 1479, with funds from Nishijin merchants who had fled during the civil war near Osaka. Its political fate was later sealed when Toyotomi Hideyoshi held the funeral of his predecessor Oda Nobunaga. Thanks to political patronage and merchants' money, the temple was at the heart of a cultural development, whether in painting, calligraphy, the tea ceremony or Zen gardens. Among the temple's accessible buildings; the Chokushimon which dates back to 1599, the Butsu-den which dates back to 1665, and the Sanmon, where Sen no Rikyū, the tea master, is said to have had a Buddha statue installed in his likeness. According to legend, this angered Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who demanded that Sen no Rikyu commit suicide in 1591.

Koto-in. Founded in 1601 by Tadaoki Hosokawa (1563-1645), a daimyō disciple of Sen no Rikyū, it features several points of interest, including an Ihokuken hall that comes from Rikyū's residence. Also, a maple vault prepares the temple entrance. And most impressive of all is the bamboo grove, which diffuses a subdued light, and a strange green, like the diluted green of ceremonial tea.

Daisen-in. One of the five most visited temples in Kyoto. In the Hōjō, some of the sliding doors were painted by Sōami (1472-1523), the creator of the Ryōan-ji. Around the Hōjō, we come to observe three magnificent gardens, certainly executed by Shūko Kogaku. One of them remains famous for its arrangement of vertical rocks, white sand and vegetation. A corridor divides it in two, allowing meditation on the image of Mount Horai, from which a waterfall gushes into a river of sand.

Zuiho-in. Founded in 1535, the temple is best known for its stone gardens designed by Mirei Shigemori in the 1960s.

Ryogen-in. Built in 1502, this temple is surrounded by four Zen gardens, including the smallest in Japan.