Shinsen-en Garden Kyoto
Shinsen-en (lit. Sacred Spring Garden) is the remains of what was a much larger Heian Period pleasure garden located near Nijo Castle in Kyoto.
Shinsen-en History | Shinsen-en Layout | Shinsen-en Access
Shinsen-en 神泉苑
Shinsen-en (lit. "Sacred Spring Garden") is the remains of a Heian Period garden just south of Nijo Castle in the west of Kyoto.
Shinsen-en is all that now remains of Emperor Kammu's original palace and pleasure garden built from 794, when the capital was moved to Kyoto (Heian-kyo).
Shinsen-en is now a sub-temple of Toji Temple in the south of the city below Kyoto Station.
A view of the vermillion bridge at Shinsen-en Garden, Nijo-jo area, Kyoto
Curved bridge at Shinsen-en Garden, Kyoto
Shinsen-en History
Shinsen-en was once much larger, about 10 times bigger covering 33 acres, in fact, and was part of a walled Chinese-style pleasure garden built by Emperor Kammu to the south of his main palace. Shinsen-en stretched between Nijo to Sanjo streets.
Due to numerous fires nothing remains of the Emperor Kammu's original structures and the garden has survived as the Tokugawa authorities allowed Toji Temple to construct a sub-temple here along with three small Shinto shrines.
Shinsen-en garden was once the playground of the Heian nobility who held moon-viewing and boating parties on the lake. The name of the street on which Shinsen-en stands, Oike Dori, harks back to the glory days of the garden as it means "Honorable Pond" street.
Shinsen-en Garden in winter
Shinsen-en Layout
Shinsen-en has been restored to resemble its original layout with the Hojuju-ike pond at its center. The pond has a small island in the middle reached by a stone bridge and the curving vermillion bridge (pictured). The island contains a shrine to the Dragon Queen, who was believed to inhabit the waters of the pond. The main hall of the sub-temple, Shinsen-den, contains an image of Kobo Daishi (Kukai), who is associated with the place.
The other two shrines in Shinsen-en are to Benten and Inari. There is a restaurant in the garden with lovely views. The Shinsen-en plays host to performances of Kyogen in April and May.
Access - Getting To Shinsen-en Garden
Shinsen-en
167 Monzen-cho
Oike-dori Shinsenen-cho higashi-iru
Nakagyo-ku
Kyoto 604-8306
Tel: 075 821 1466
Open 9am-5pm
Admission: Free
Shinsen-en is just south of Nijo Castle. A visit to Shinsen-en can be combined with trips to Nijo Jinya, Kyoto International Manga Museum and The Museum of Kyoto
By bus, take bus numbers #50, #101, #9 or #12. The nearest stop on the Kyoto subway is Nijo-jo mae on the Tozai Line.
