Yoshimine-dera｜善峯寺

Despite its remote location, Yoshimine-dera is a popular temple during several specific seasons.  The autumn colors (kōyō) envelop the entire mountain, but in spring and summer it’s time for the Hakusan Sakura and Hydrangea Garden to shine.  This sprawling garden is laid out under the watchful eye of the Kōfuku Jizō (Jizō of Happiness) installed on a raised platform, and walking paths meander over the mountainside between lush clusters of hydrangeas and cascading weeping cherry blossoms.  Said to contain thousands of hydrangeas, many of them the blue mop head variety, the garden scenery is gorgeous in most any weather, even rain.   

Designated as a natural monument, Yūryū no Matsu is a Japanese white pine said to be over six hundred years old.  Trained to grow horizontally rather than vertically, this pine tree, propped up by wooden supports under which visitors can pass, is a whopping 37 meters long!  (It actually used to measure at 50 meters, but had to be trimmed down in the nineties on account of pine weevils.)  This pine received the name “Yūryū no Matsu” (遊龍の松) in 1857 from Kazanin Ieatsu, a high ranked courtier, who likened the shape to a playful (遊) reclining dragon (龍).  When you visit Yoshimine-dera, be sure to examine the tree known as Japan’s best pine from various angles and distances until you can see just how it earned its name. 

Situated as it is in the mountains bordering Kyoto on the west, Yoshimine-dera has several spots that offer sprawling views of the city below.  Many of these areas are festooned with seasonal flowers, adding another layer of beauty to the scene, such as the hydrangea-lined low wall walkway on the approach to the gardens, or the azalea-rimmed lookout near the Shaka-dō hall.  From some angles at the top of the stairs leading to the Yakushi-dō hall the path seems to lead down not to the temple, but to the distant city below.  On clear days you can pick out various landmarks such as Kyoto Tower and even see across the valley basin to Mt. Hiei in the east.

Many of the structures at Yoshimine-dera date to the 17^th century Edo period reconstruction funded by Keishō-in, Kyoto native and mother of the fifth Tokugawa shogun.  Visitors first enter the temple through the stately two-storied rōmon gate and soon encounter the temple’s main hall, the Kannon-dō, which enshrines the temple’s principal image and secondary principal image, both statues of the Thousand-Armed Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion said to possess one thousand arms with which to save the suffering.  Next to the temple’s tahōtō pagoda is the Kyō-dō (Sutra Library), which is dedicated to Fudaishi, a Chinese monk considered a patron deity of libraries.  Praying at the Shaka-dō that houses the historical statue of Buddha Shakyamuni is reputed to offer relief to those afflicted by lower back pain or neuralgia.  The second highest point in the temple complex, the Yakushi-dō hall, enshrines Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, and had a special significance to Keishō-in, who is said to have only been born because her parents prayed to Yakushi Nyorai on this mountain for a daughter.  Make sure to explore the nooks and crannies of this temple complex, because there are so many small details and gorgeous scenes just waiting to be discovered.