Do you know the temple called Ryogin-an?

It’s a temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto. It’s the oldest building belonging to the Hojo architectural style (the way of construction that makes it easy to assemble and easy to disassemble). It was built in the early Muromachi period, and it has retained the design of architecture of the Muromachi period. It contains many national treasures and important cultural properties. The most known is its garden, consisting of three smaller gardens — East, West and South.

The East garden is called Garden of No Pain. Its ground is filled with crushed red stones from Kurama.

The West garden is called Garden of Dragon Gate. It signifies the figure of a dragon sticking its head out of the sea, and flying up to the sky on a black cloud made of stones. It is also interesting that they use black and white stones around it.

And the South garden is a simple garden with white stones on the ground; but it is amazingly beautiful and silent. The Engetsu Bridge in its entrance is elegant, and is more than worth a visit.