Timeless Kyoto

Explore Kyoto: Tours and Itineraries

庭 -Gardens-

Day1
Daisen-in Shoin GardenSentai Jizozuka of Daitoku-ji TempleIzusen

Kyoto

Daisen-in Temple
Experience Zen meditation
Japanese Tea Ceremony
Temple and Garden Tour

Daisen-in Shoin Garden (大仙院書院庭園)
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)
Hojo Northeast Garden
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)

Daitoku-ji Temple / Daitoku-ji Hojo Garden (大徳寺方丈庭園)
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Historical site
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)

Shojin Tetsubachi Cuisine Lunch at Izusen
Tetsubachi are round metal bowls used by mendicant monks to receive food. Except for some made of ceramic, the bowls can be stacked on top of each other with a lid to cover them, a perfect example of the marriage of function and Japanese aesthetics.

Golden Pavilion / Rokuon-ji Garden (金閣寺庭園)
World Cultural Heritage Site
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Special Historic Site
Garden style: Chisen shuuyu (boating pond garden)

Day2
Konchi-in GardenNanzen-ji JunseiMurin-an Garden

Kyoto

Silver Pavilion / Jisho-ji Garden (銀閣寺庭園)
World Cultural Heritage
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Special Historic Site
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)

Konchi-in Temple / Konchi-in Garden (金地院庭園)
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)
Garden designer: Kobori Enshu

Lunch at Nanzen-ji Junsei
Visit the famous gardens, discover the seasonal flavors, and feel the four seasons of Kyoto
with all five senses.

Murin-an / Murin-an Garden (無鄰菴)
Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)
Garden designer: Ogawa Jihei
This garden is a masterpiece of the Meiji Period (1868-1912). It was the villa of Yamagata Aritomo, a prominent statesman of the era, and constructed by Ogawa Jihei.

Tea break at Murin-an Villa

Heian Shrine Shinen
Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)
Garden designer: Ogawa Jihei

Day3
Nijo-jo Ninomaru GardenShinsen-en GardenShosei-en

Kyoto

Hongan-ji Temple / Hongan-ji Daisho-in Garden (本願寺大書院庭園)
World Cultural Heritage Site
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Special Historic Site
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)

Nijo-jo Castle / Nijo-jo Ninomaru Garden (二条城二の丸庭園)
World Cultural Heritage Site
Historic Site
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)
Garden designer: Kobori Enshu

Lunch at Shinsenen Heihachi / Shinsen-en Garden (神泉苑)
Garden style: Chisen shuuyu (boating pond garden)
Heihachi has been operating here for almost 50 years. You can enjoy traditional Japanese
cuisine along with the seasonal beauty of the garden.

Shosei-en / Kikoku-tei (渉成園/枳殻邸)
Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)
Garden designer: Ishikawa Jozan
This garden belonging to Higashi Hongan-ji Temple is 34,980-m2 in size and was designed by Ishikawa Jozan, a noted writer of Chinese poetry. Considered a place of scenic beauty that changes with the seasons, the garden was greatly admired by Rai Sanyo, an influential Confucian philosopher, historian and poet.

Day4
Tenryu-ji GardenRyoan-ji Hojo GardenHojo Western Garden

Kyoto

Tenryu-ji Temple
Zen lecture by a monk
Temple and Garden Tour

Tenryu-ji Garden (天龍寺庭園)
World Cultural Heritage Site
Historic Site
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)
Garden designer: Muso Soseki

Ryoan-ji Temple
Special Temple and Garden Tour

Ryoan-ji Hojo Garden (龍安寺方丈庭園)
World Cultural Heritage Site
Historic Site
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)

Taizo-in Temple / Hojo Western Garden (妙心寺退蔵院/方丈西庭)
Place of Scenic Beauty, Historic Site
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)
Garden designer: Kano Motonobu
The garden’s design is attributed to Kano Motonobu, a famous landscape painter of the Muromachi Period (1336-1573).

Day5
Shuonan TempleJoruri-ji GardenTono no Sekibutsu

Kizugawa City & Kyotanabe City in Kyoto Prefecture

Ikkyu-ji Temple / Shuonan Temple (一休寺/酬恩庵)
Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Karesansui (dry landscape garden)
This temple is where the influential Zen Buddhist monk Ikkyu Sojun, the inspiration for the character Ikkyu-san, settled late in life and was laid to rest. In addition to the historical hojyo building built in the 1600s, there are also three enchanting dry landscape gardens that surround the temple on its north, south and east sides.

Joruri-ji Temple / Joruri-ji Garden (浄瑠璃寺庭園)
Historic Site
Special Place of Scenic Beauty
Garden style: Chisen kaiyu (strolling pond garden)

Walking Tour at Tono no Sekibutsu
Tono-no-sato, where Joruri-ji Temple located, is dotted with stone Buddhist statues and stone pagodas collectively known as Tono Sekibutsugun (group of stone statues in Tono) that date back to the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). Enjoy a one-hour walking tour of the very local village.

Gansen-ji Temple
The temple features designated Important Cultural Properties including a seated statue of Amitabha, the temple’s main object of worship, a statue of Bodhisattva riding an elephant, a 13-storied stone pagoda and a 5-ring pagoda from the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), and a 3-storied pagoda from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573). The temple is famous for its hydrangeas, with about 5,000 hydrangeas planted on the temple grounds.