Ryoanji
Ryoanji
京都府
World Heritage Zen garden of 15 stones on white gravel — a masterpiece of silent philosophy
Founded
1450
Type
Temple
Visited
Want to go
Access
Right at City Bus Ryoanji-mae stop
13 Ryoanji Goryo-no-shita-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
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Info
Temple
Founded 1450
576 years
Enshrined Deity
Buddhist Sect
Rinzai Zen (Myoshinji branch)
Overview
A Rinzai Zen temple world-renowned for its rock garden. The garden of 15 stones on white gravel embodies Zen spirit, famously arranged so all stones cannot be seen simultaneously from any angle. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Origins
Founded in 1450 when Hosokawa Katsumoto, kanrei of the Muromachi shogunate, transformed a Tokudaiji family villa into a subtemple of Myoshinji, with Giten Gensho of Myoshin-ji as its founding abbot. Destroyed by the Western Army in 1468 during the Onin War, the temple was rebuilt from 1488 by Katsum…
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Haiku Composed Here
1

遅き日のつもりて遠きむかしかな
Yosa Buson 1773年
Seasonal word
遅日(春)
日永き春の一日一日が積み重なって、遠い昔となってゆく、という時の流れの感傷。蕪村の抒情性の粋。
Divine Benefits
Warding Off Evil
Purification
Rebirth in Pure Land
Averting disaster, directional protection, warding off epidemics. Central at Fudo, Kannon, and Gion-related sites.
Derived from the enshrined deity "釈迦如来"

Related Historical Events
1

1483
Higashiyama Culture
Late 15th-century culture centered on the 8th shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa's Higashiyama villa (including the Silver Pavilion). Amid post-Ōnin War turmoil, it established uniquely Japanese aesthetics of simplicity, yūgen, wabi, and Zen. The Silver Pavilion (1489) and Tōgu-dō Dōjinsai room model the shoin-zukuri style that became the template for modern Japanese residences—with tatami, shōji, alcove (tokonoma), staggered shelves, and built-in desk. Dry landscape gardens (Ryōan-ji, Daisen-in), Sesshū's ink landscapes, Murata Jukō's wabi tea origins, Ikenobō flower arrangement, and renga poetry form the backbone of later Japanese culture.
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Visiting Information
Hours
Mar–Nov: 8:00–17:00; Dec–Feb: 8:30–16:30.
Admission
General ¥600, high school students ¥500, elementary/junior high school students ¥300.
As of 2026-07-17. Subject to change.
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