Mar 16, 2014 - 1 min read

Kyoto Toji-in Temple

Muso Soseki’s garden sonata

By Tomoko Kamishima

Community writer

A teahouse and pond in the west garden, viewed from behind the main building

Seiren-tei teahouse at the top of the hill

Beautiful moss garden scattered with petals

The path becomes narrow and the trees block your view

Grave of Ashikaga Takauji (the first Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate)

Pink camellias on the moss-covered ground

Toji-in Temple has two amazing gardens designed by Muso Soseki: The delicate west garden and the secluded east garden. When you sit in the tatami room, the bright and delicate west garden will be pleasing to the eyes. Go out and up the hill to see the view from beside the teahouse. It is nice to feel a bird’s-eye view, even though the garden itself is not really large. Then walk deeper into the part of the garden surrounded by a grove of trees. The path becomes narrow and the trees block your view, as if you are lost in the forest. Here you will find the east garden. As you make your dark way along the pond, you will suddenly find yourself at the bright west garden again, but from a different direction. It’s like a sonata garden!