John Dougill - Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto: A Guide to Kyoto’s Most Important Sites

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Acknowledgments and Credits

John Dougill would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Yuriko Suzuki, who facilitated much of the research, and also the expertise of Thomas Kirchner, who kindly showed me around Rinsen-ji, part of the great monastical complex of Tenryu-ji. I am also very grateful to Rev. Takafumi Kawakami for making time in his busy schedule, and to novelist Julie Highmore for reading over the text. I am indebted, too, to several experts in the field. These include prominent academics such as John Nelson, George Keyworth, Robert Borgen, Hoyu Ishida and Eisho Nasu. I was also fortunate to have the support of Zen priest Tom Wright, landscape designer Tomoki Kato, Japan journalist Eric Johnston, shakuhachi maestro Preston Houser, Kyoto Journal editor Ken Rodgers, former Kyoto city official Shigenori Shibata, Kyoto author Judith Clancy, garden expert Mark Hovane, and two International Goodwill Ambassadors for the City of Kyoto, Jeff Bergland and tea master Randy Channell. Thanks also to photographer Damien Douxchamps. Finally, I would like to restate my gratitude to scholar Michel Mohr for the invaluable input he provided on a previous occasion when I wrote about Zen in Kyoto, and also for the encouragement of author Norman Waddell. My sincere thanks to one and all.

The quotation from Ruth Fuller Sasaki in the Introduction is an abridged version of an article included in Zen Pioneer: The Life and Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki by Isabel Stirling, published by Shoemaker and Hoard in the US, 2006, pages 198203. The original piece was by Ruth Fuller Sasaki for a 1960 pamphlet titled Rinzai Zen Study for Foreigners in Japan, published privately in Kyoto by the First Zen Institute of America in Japan.

John Einarsen is extremely grateful for the help he received in taking photographs for this book. First and foremost are two Zen priests who are playing a crucial role in introducing Zen to overseas visitors: Rev. Takafumi Kawakami of Shunko-in and Rev. Daiko Matsuyama of Taizo-in. They graciously allowed me to photograph at their temples on several occasions. I especially wish to express my deep gratitude to the deputy priest of Ikkyu-ji, Soko Tanabe, who posed for some of the photographs, and to his wife who prepared tea and sweets. This encounter never would have materialized if it were not for the kind help of Kyoto photographers Hideyuki and Kayu Mizuno. I would like to thank Gensho Hozumi of Toko-ji and the International Zen Center for hosting me on several occasions, and Sage Morita Einarsen for his amazing temple compound illustration on pages . Others who helped include the many monks at the temples who answered my simple questions, Thomas Kirchner, garden designer Marc P. Keane, Kyoto Journal s Ken Rodgers and Toshihiro Hagimori, who first encouraged me to do a book like this many years ago. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to Midori Morita who accompanied me to many of the temples. She was a fun, patient and helpful companion on these trips.

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Authors Note

Names are written in Japanese fashion (family name before given name), except for contemporary and modern figures who are referred to in the Western style.

Baisao, the legendary Edo-era tea seller, was a poet and Obaku monk who is enshrined at Manpuku-ji. Painting by Ito Jakuchu.

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ISBN 978-4-8053-1401-2; ISBN 978-1-4629-1958-1 (ebook)

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The Daruma of Toji-in.

A contemporary shakuhachi flute player.

View of the garden at Shisendo.

Early spring in Nanzen-ji.

Zen in Kyoto

Each year I receive around 5,000 visitors to my temple who want to learn about Zen. They come from many different nationalities and backgrounds, ranging from businessmen to travelers and university students. Many have misconceptions about Zen, but nearly all are interested in developing and practicing mindfulness in their lives.

Over the centuries, the Zen world in Kyoto has developed a unique culture in terms of focussing attention. It is evident in such Zen arts as the tea ceremony and Chinese ink work. Its influence can be seen also in architecture, garden design, Japanese archery and martial arts. We can, in fact, find this clear, concentrated attention reflected in all aspects of Zen culture.