Shisen-do Temple, Kyoto

Shisen-do Temple began as a residential villa for Ishikawa Jozan, a samurai who fell out of favor with the shogun. He built it on a piece of land below the Higashiyama, creating a beautiful blend of architecture and garden.

Today, Ishikawa Jozan's villa is a temple of the Soto-sec of Zen Buddhism. Its famous garden comprises two levels. The upper level is best seen from the veranda of the main building, where you can see packed sand bordered by manicured azaleas.

The lower level has a lovely view of the villa's tile-and-thatch roof, and also make ample use of sand to create light and space.

Shisen-do Temple, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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