("Park of the Philosophy Shrine" or "Temple Garden of Philosophy") is a public park in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Most of the park is in Nakano Ward, while approximately 7% (at the south-eastern edge) is in Shinjuku Ward. It was created successively during the years 1904 to 1919 by the philosopher and founder of

Toyo University is a private university with the main Hakusan Station (Tokyo), Hakusan campus in Bunkyō, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The university operates multiple satellite campuses in the Kanto region, including. Asaka, Saitama, Asaka, Kawagoe, Saitama, Kawagoe, ...

Inoue Enryō was a Japanese philosopher, Shin Buddhist priest and reformer, educator, and royalist. A key figure in the reception of Western philosophy, the emergence of modern Buddhism, and the permeation of the imperial ideology during the second half of ...

. Inoue thought of this philosophical theme park as a place for mental cultivation. In 2020, the park was designated a National Site of Scenic Beauty.

Outline

The main characteristics of the park are 77 garden features named according to philosophical concepts and the commemoration of various sages and philosophers of the Eastern and the Western philosophical traditions.

Philosophers and Sages

# The Four Sages of World Philosophy:

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

# The Six Wise Men of the East:

Shōtoku Taishi Shōtoku may refer to: * Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Has ...

Sugawara no Michizane , or , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in '' waka'' and '' kanshi'' poetry, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning, . In the famed poem anthology ' ...

, Zhuāngzǐ, Zhū Xī,

Nāgārjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosoph ...

, Kapila # The Three Founders of Philosophy: The Yellow Emperor, Akṣapāda,

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

# The Three Japanese Erudites: Hirata Atsutane,

Hayashi Razan , also known as Hayashi Dōshun, was a Japanese historian, philosopher, political consultant, and writer, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four ''shōguns'' of the Tokugawa ''bakufu''. He is also attributed with first listing the ...

, Gyōnen

Facilities

Tetsugaku-dō Park has a play area for children, toilets, a Japanese garden and a plum garden.

Gallery

File: Shiseido tetsugakudo.jpg, Shrine of the Four Sages (Shiseidō) File: Tetsugakudoukouen Rokkendai.jpg, Pagoda of the Six Wise Men (Rokkendai) Tetsugakudoukouen Tetsurimon.jpg, Portal of Metaphysics (Tetsurimon) Tetsugakudoukouen Risoukyou.jpg, Bridge of the Ideal (Risōkyō) Tetsugakudo Park(Philosophy Hall Park) - 哲学堂公園 - panoramio (6).jpg, Upstairs from the Junction of Dualism (Nigenku)

Literature

Schulzer, Rainer, ed. ''Guide to the Temple Garden of Philosophy'' (Toyo University Press, 2019).

References

External links

Official website
(Japanese)
Introductory videos
(English) {{Authority control Parks and gardens in Tokyo