Ittekikai Garden at Komyozenji Temple

 

The rear garden at Komyozenji Temple, known as the Ittekikai Garden, was the garden that really first piqued my interest in Japanese gardens, although at the the time I did not realize it was a fairly modern one.

Komyozenji Temple is a Rinzai Zen Temple located close to what is now Dazaifu Tenmangu.

The temple was founded in 1273 and belongs to the Tofukuji Schoolof the Rinzai Zen Sect.

During the Edo Period it was the family temple of those who served at what is now Dazaifu Tenmangu but which at the time was a temple and not the shrine it became in the Meiji Period.

In 1856 it became an affiliate of Dazaifu Tenmangu.

The rear garden of Komyozenji, like the smaller front garden, was designed by Mirei Shigemori.

I can find no exact date for their creation,but he passed away in 1976 so probably in 1960's or 70's.

Like the front garden it is a "dry" karesansui garden, though unlike the front garden it also incorporates a lot bof moss.

In fact one of the temples nicknames is Moss Temple.

What is noticeably different from this karesansui garden to most others is that here it is planted with many trees.

The trees are mostly maple, and so create a stunning display in the Autumn when the leaves turn red and fall.

These first 16 shots wre all taken during a visit in the Spring when the the garden is mostly shaded by the new foliage, but mottled sunlight breaks through.

The last 8 photos were taken during a Winter visit when the bare trees allow much more light onto the garden but the sun is much lower for much of the times.

In 2016 photography of the gardens was banned, and two years later the temple closed to the public for renovations, and it seems to stiill be closed.

Mirei Shigemori was a self taught garden designer and scholar of gardens who was incredibly influential in the twentieth century.

He was very prolific designing and restoring many gardens throughout Japan, but as far as I can tell there is only one other, very small garden by him in Kyushu.

Earlier I posted shots of the other garden here, the Bukkosekitei Garden.