Kyoto, Nanzenji, Nanzen-in, Tenjuan

According to people who now about these things, this is the most famous and important zen temple in Japan. Built originally in the 13th century, the temple grew in importance and was destroyed several times, both by wars and the jealous monks from a nearby mountain, the famous warrior monks from Enryakuji. During the unification of the country the evil mountain monks were all killed and Nanzenji grew and prospered. That didn't last forever though. During the Meiji period a new state religion entered town, Shintoism, and most of Nanzenji's subtemples and lands were confiscated. Most of the buildings now standing were donated or reconstructed in the 17th century. The huge, twenty two meter tall main gate, was built by one of Tokugawas generals after the Osaka castle was burnt down to commemorate his fallen heroes.

Walking in the eastern parts of the city, you are never far away from world famous temples or gardens, and Nanzenji is one of them. Some of the old subtemples remain and a few of them are open to public, like the Nanzen-in and Tenjuan gardens. Nanzen-in used to be a part of the emperors palace garden, and Tenjuan is the first place that was converted into a temple by the emperor. The birth place of the Nanzenji. Both Nanzen-in and Tenjuan has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that it is hard to tell if there is anything left of the original designs, but they are beautiful places no matter what, and has been designated as important historical gardens in Kyoto.

The creation myths of Nanzenji tell that the emperor was worried about some evil spirits in his palace area and sent for a monk to take care of the problem. But the one that came didn't do the usual chantings, instead he just sat still and spoke nothing until the devils disappeared. The emperor was impressed, changed one of his buildings into a temple and became the zen-monk's disciple.

There is a good vegetarian restaurant on the temple precincts serving zen food, and if you really want some peace and quiet, then there are a lot of nice paths in the mountains behind waiting for you.