MYOSHIN-JI

Myoshin-ji is the head temple of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhist temples in north western Kyoto. At the beginning there was an imperial villa converted in 1337 into a Zen temple. Myoshin-ji temple was destroyed in 1467 during the Onin war, but was rebuilt ten years later. Throughout its history Myoshin-ji became a major Zen temple compound with more than forty sub-temples. Only a few of them are open to the public. The Main Hall of the head temple has a dry garden covered with moss, two mounds of white gravel in the middle and a pine tree in the south-western corner.