, also known as the Manshuin

Monzeki ''Monzeki'' (門跡) were Japanese Buddhist priests of aristocratic or imperial lineage. The term was also applied to the temples in which they lived. An example of a ''monzeki'' temple is Daikaku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Uky� ...

, is a

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

temple located near the

Shugakuin Imperial Villa The , or Shugaku-in Detached Palace, is a set of gardens and outbuildings (mostly teahouses) in the hills of the eastern suburbs of Kyoto, Japan (separate from the Kyoto Imperial Palace). It is one of Japan's most important large-scale cultural ...

at Sakyō-ku, Ichijo-ji, Takenouchi-cho, in northeast

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, Japan. The temple was founded by Dengyō Daishi in the 8th century. It was then located near

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei b ...

and known as Tobibo, but renamed Manshuin in 1108 or 1109. In the early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

the temple moved to its current site. Today the temple is notable both for its buildings and a fine garden – the gardens of the Manshu-in '' shoin'' are a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty. The entry building contains a Tiger Room with images said to have been painted by Kanō Eitoku 狩野永徳 (1543–1590), Bamboo Room with Edo wood-block prints, and Peacock Room with pictures by Ganku 岸駒 (1749/56–1839). The main temple hall (Great Shoin) dates from the early Edo period, and is now listed as an Important Cultural Property. It contains a Waterfall Room with slides by Kanō Tan'yū 狩野探幽 (1602–1674), and Snowy Scenes Room with screen pictures by the same artist and shelves much like those in the Katsura Imperial Villa. The smaller hall (Small Shoin) is also an important culture property; it contains the Mount Fuji Room (pictures by Kanō Tanyū on the sliding doors); Twilight Room with royal throne and more paintings by Kano; and a tea room. The temple's major garden is in the Karesansui (枯山水) style, and now designated as an eminent scenery; it contains a notable '' Pinus pentaphylla'' tree, now about 400 years old, set within an "island" on a stream of white sand. The inner garden is quite small, and features a stone basin and old well.

References

* ''Manshuin Monzeki'', undated brochure from the temple (August 2007).
Jgarden.com article
{{Authority control Places of Scenic Beauty Buddhist temples in Kyoto Important Cultural Properties of Japan Tendai temples Monzeki

See also

References