Shinsenen Audio Guide

Shinsen-en: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Shinsen-en

   Welcome to Shinsen-en, written 神泉苑 in Japanese, in the Nakagyo Ward of central Kyoto. This is a Buddhist temple and a garden in one. The temple belongs to the Tō-ji branch of Shingon Buddhism, and its main image is a statue of Sho-Kannon, a form of the bodhisattva of compassion. What makes it special is its age. The pond and garden here are the last surviving remnant of the original Heian Palace grounds, and this is the oldest existing garden in Kyoto. Few places in the city still carry a trace of the Heian era, the age that began when the capital was founded in the year 794, and Shinsen-en is one of them. Over the next few minutes I will take you back to the founding of the capital, to the days when this pond was a place to pray for rain, and through the fires and rebuilding that shaped what you see today.

2. 02

   A Garden for Emperors at Shinsen-en

   Let us go back to 794, the thirteenth year of the Enryaku era. Emperor Kanmu was building the new capital of Heian-kyo, and beside the great imperial palace compound he had a garden laid out for the court. The name tells you why this spot was chosen: clear spring water always welled up here, so it was called Shinsen-en, the garden of the sacred spring. The original garden was far larger than the grounds you can walk today. It stretched four blocks north to south and two blocks east to west, which is about 500 meters by 250 meters. Its borders were the great avenues of the new city: Nijo Avenue to the north, Sanjo Avenue to the south, Mibu Avenue to the west and Omiya Avenue to the east. Inside, there was a large pond with an island called Nakajima in the middle. Around it stood grand pavilions, including one named Kanrinkaku and a fishing pavilion that stood out over the water. Picture the court strolling and boating here, in a garden designed to be the pleasure ground of the emperor himself.

3. 03

   Prayers for Rain at Shinsen-en

   A pleasure garden is one thing, but Shinsen-en also had a serious side. From ancient times through the medieval period, this was a place for rain-prayer rituals, and the rituals were overseen by Tō-ji, the great Shingon temple in Kyoto. In an age when harvests depended on the weather, a pond fed by a sacred spring made a fitting stage for appealing to the heavens. That link with Tō-ji is the reason Shinsen-en is a temple today. It belongs to the Tō-ji branch of Shingon Buddhism, a tie that goes back to the garden's role as a rain-prayer ground under Tō-ji's care. As you stand by the water, you might think of it as both things at once. It began as an imperial retreat for beauty and leisure, and it came to be remembered as a sacred pond where people turned for rain.

4. 04

   Fire and Rebuilding at Shinsen-en

   Over the centuries the great garden shrank, and it was in the Edo period that Shinsen-en took the shape of a temple. It was rebuilt under the jurisdiction of Tō-ji, and the Tokugawa shogunate granted it 40 koku of land for its upkeep. A koku was a measure of rice, and 40 of them gave the temple a steady income. The restoration added a Tahōtō pagoda and temple buildings. But Kyoto has always been a city of fires, and in the Tenmei fire of 1788 the pagoda and the buildings from that restoration were destroyed. What survived is the heart of the place: the pond and garden, the last remnant of the original Heian Palace grounds. That is why the site is valued as one of the few historic places where something of the Heian atmosphere still reaches us today.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Shinsen-en

   As you wander the grounds, try a small experiment. Remember that the original garden covered an area of about 500 meters by 250 meters, bounded by the avenues of the ancient capital, and then look at how much of it you are standing in. The pond and garden before you are a fragment of that vast imperial pleasure ground. Look at the water and think of the spring that gave the place its name. Look at the temple, and think of the statue of Sho-Kannon at its heart and the long connection to Tō-ji. And keep in mind that this quiet corner of central Kyoto has seen the founding of a capital, centuries of rain prayers, a shogunate's patronage and a devastating fire. There is plenty more to discover on your own, so take your time and let the pond set the pace.