The stone garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto is perhaps the most famous of all Japanese gardens, and in 1994 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Open throughout the year, this 500-year-old Zen Buddhist masterpiece richly rewards visits at different seasons, and no matter how many times you go there you are sure to fall under its spell. If time is short I would highly recommend you savor this garden at the "Temple of the Peaceful Dragon" above almost all others in Japan.
Whatever your circumstances, try not to make the mistake of touring this garden too fast. Take your time and look carefully at the surroundings. It is surprising how much there is to see and take note of here to the northwest of the city at the foot of a wooded, 200-meter hill known as Kinugasa-yama.
Built in 1450 by Hosokawa Katsumoto (1430-73), a general who was deputy to Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth shogun of the Muromachi Period (1338-1573), this temple belonging to the Myoshinji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism had as its founding abbot Giten Gensho, the fifth abbot of Myoshinji Temple. However, like many others in Kyoto, most of the original buildings burned down during the Onin War (1467-77). It was only after that, around 1488, that the stone garden was built.
During the Muromachi Period, Zen priests laid out many gardens, among them kare-san-sui (dry landscape gardens) like this that use no water, but instead have raked gravel to represent it, and large isolated rocks. Ryoanji's is the most austere of the nation's Zen Buddhist gardens, and its most famous in this style.
Older styles of kare-san-sui had stones placed in such a way as to suggest a dry waterfall or a flowing stream. However, the design at Ryoanji is abstract and different people may interpret it as a coastal scene, a range of mountains, a chain of islands or whatever.
It is not known for certain who designed Ryoanji. Some believe it was the famous painter Soamai, and that the actual work was undertaken by sensui kawaramono (riverbank workers). Others Zen priests created the garden along with riverbank workers. What is certain is that if you visit there, you will be treading in the footsteps of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98), the warlord who reunified Japan in 1590, built Osaka Castle, and visited Ryoanji on several occasions. Clearly he liked it too, as both his wife and son are buried here alongside Giten, the founder priest.
The rectangular stone garden was built in front of the (hojo) (abbot's quarters) and has an area of only 256 sq. meters. It consists of raked quartz pebbles and 15 rocks of varying sizes and shapes arranged in such a way that from nowhere except above can all 15 be seen at once. The sequence of the rock arrangement, from left to right, finds the stones placed in intriguing groups of five, two, three, two and three. There are no trees or shrubs, but moss is allowed to grow around the base of some of the rocks.
Meanwhile, to the south and east of the garden is an earthen wall with a tiled roof. This style of wall, known as abura-bei, came from China, and if you look carefully you will notice blackish stains on its surface. These come from the rapeseed oil (natane abura) from Chinese cabbage or Brassica rapa, which is mixed into the outer layer of soil to help protect the wall from the elements.
The walls are made from 50 percent new mountain soil and 50 percent old soil -- meaning soil from old earthen walls mixed with lime and saltwater (nigari). They are constructed in layers, with 15 cm of the soil mixture poured between boards and then hammered down with oak poles until the compacted layer is about 7 cm deep. The process is then repeated until the wall reaches the desired height.
To further the life of the wall it is given a roof, whose wooden tiles are made from hinoki (Japanese cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa) which is very resistant to decay. The abura-bei wall at Ryoanji has stood the test of time for hundreds of years.
Ryoanji-gaki (Ryoanji bamboo fencing) also originated here. This is a low ashimoto-gaki (fence built along a pathway), usually only around 60 cm high. Ryoanji fences are popular in small gardens, and often take the form of a double layer of split bamboo crisscrossed in a diamond pattern. The top and bottom parts of the fence use split stout bamboo and the end result is a pleasant, sturdy structure.
Over in the western part of the temple's grounds is a strolling garden through tall sugi (Japanese cedars). Here you can also see pollarded cedars, fashioned in a unique way developed in Kyoto which is colloquially known as dai-sugi. This involves the trees being grown from seed until the lower part of the stem is quite stout. The top three-quarters of the tree is then sawed off, and when new branches emerge at the cut-off point they are trained to grow straight up. Though not pleasing to everyone, this style of sugi cultivation is often employed in Japanese gardens.
Another reason for not hurrying your visit here is to be found at the back of the abbot's quarters, where there is a stone water basin known as chisoku-no-chozubachi that was reputedly donated by the daimyo Tokugawa Mitsukuni. Here, the square hole for the water has a double function, both to hold water and -- as the square forms part of a compound for the four Chinese characters -- to symbolize its name. This can be translated as "I just know satisfaction," a phrase derived from the teachings of an Indian monk, Sakyamuni Buddha.
Finally, if you still have time to linger in Ryoanji, why not try yudofu (boiled tofu), which is a delicious local delicacy.
