Kyoto’s absolute top 20 Japanese gardens you must visit!

Hogon-in Temple is a sub-temple of Tenryu-ji, and their strolling garden called “Shihiku no Niwa” with its exquisitely placed rocks is open to the public in spring and autumn.

Eikan-do, the temple of autumn leaves, has gardens of different styles. The contrast between the white pebbles and the trees is beautiful in all of the gardens which surround the Hojo Abbot’s Quarters.

This garden on the north side of Fushimi Inari Shrine uses a lot of stone, like the 11 stone lanterns it has. The snug little garden is built around a tea house.

If you want to see a beautiful moss garden, I recommend Sanzen-in Temple. They have two different types of gardens, one which you can view from one spot, and a stroll garden which you view by walking on a path in the garden, and in both of them you can enjoy seasonal views all though the year.

At Ninna-ji Temple they have two gardens, each with its unique beauty: the chisen-kaiyu-shiki garden from where you can see the Five-Storied Pagoda across the pond, and the rock garden with its simple charm.

Zuiho-in Temple is a sub-temple of Daikaku-ji, and the temple is well known for its dry rock garden. The dry rock garden here was designed by the famous Japanese landscape artist Mirei Shigemori in the early Showa period.

Osawa Pond of Daikaku-ji Temple is said to be the oldest manmade pond in Japan. In autumn you can enjoy viewing the moon from a boat on the pond during an event called “Kangetsu no Yube.”

Tenryu-ji Temple is a famous sightseeing spot in Arashiyama, and the balance between the stones in the pond, the white pebbles, and the trees makes this garden a beautiful work of art.

The garden of Shugakuin Imperial Villa built in the middle of the 17th century is one of the most famous gardens in Japan. The highlight of this garden is how it uses the vast nature surrounding it in its design.

Kennin-ji Temple is a Zen temple in Gion which has a rock garden where you can feel the austere beauty of wabi and sabi. Also, from the study hall you can see a new dry rock garden just finished in 2006.

Tofuku-ji Temple is famous for its Hasso Garden that was also designed by the Showa period landscape architect Mirei Shigemori. The garden’s specialty is this novel checkered pattern made by moss and stones.

Konchi-in Temple is a sub-temple of Nanzen-ji. The “Crane and Turtle Garden” of this temple is famous; in the foreground, it only has white pebbles, and in the back there is a rock group that looks like a turtle and crane.

There are two gardens at Taizo-in: a dry rock garden and a stroll garden. There are all kinds of interesting points at the stroll garden of the temple and you can see vivid flowers at it all through the year.

Murin-an is a garden with the Higashiyama mountain range as its shakkei, as its background, that uses water from Lake Biwa on its waterfall and pond. The way the grass and the rocks of the garden are arranged makes the landscape have a kind of rustic beauty.

The Katsura Imperial Villa was built in the Edo period for the Imperial Family, and the villa combines the beautiful garden with the elegant buildings making for a truly Japanese view. The garden is known as the crown jewel of Japanese gardens, and is definitely worth a view.

Okochi Sanso Villa was built by the famous Japanese actor Denjiro Okochi as his mountain retreat. From the vast stroll garden which uses the mountains of Arashiyama as its shakkei, borrowed scenery, you can see almost all of Kyoto.

Hosen-in Temple is in a quiet place in the back of Ohara in Kyoto. The beautiful garden which uses the nature of Ohara as its background is something you have to see. The way you can see the beautiful garden from inside the temple through the latticed windows makes the garden look almost like a painting in a picture frame.

Shoren-in Temple is in Higashiyama and it has a chisen-kaiyu-shiki stroll garden. The beautiful carpet of moss and the pond, and the bamboo grove at the foot of the mountain make the atmosphere at the temple feel serene.

The specialties of Shisen-do Temple in the Ichijoji area are the white pebbles and the round shrubbery. This temple is said to be the first place in Japan where a shishi-odoshi, a type of water fountain with a bamboo rocker arm, was used.

If you want to see a Japanese garden in Kyoto, the best one has to be the garden of the Zen temple Ryoan-ji. Many tourists visit this temple every day to see the garden with 15 rocks, although puzzlingly only 14 of them can be seen at one time. If you go to the temple early in the morning there are not that many people, so I hope you will get to feel the essence of Zen at Ryoan-ji Temple.