Although it is recorded in Miyako rinsen meishō zue that the garden at Taizōin temple was designed by the famous painter Kanō Motonobu in the Momoyama period, this is no more than a legend. As the abbot's quarters were built at the beginning of the Edo period (early seventeenth century), the garden is presumed to have been built at the same time. The main part of the garden is a dry landscape located to the west of the abbot's quarters, designed to be viewed from the quarters' westernmost room, called Saya no ma. It is a symbolic expression of a landscape containing water, having a dry waterfall and a dry stream, plus a dry pond made with stone shore edging and arranged with a central island and a rock island. It is designated a national scenic spot, and located in Ukyō ward，Kyoto.
Japanese Garden Dictionary: A Glossary for Japanese Gardens and Their History
(C) 2010 by Ono Kenkichi and Walter Edwards. All rights reserved.
