Tenryu-ji’s garden arranges pond, stones, and borrowed mountain scenery into a single composition. Founded to honor Emperor Go-Daigo, the Zen temple combines a political act of remembrance with a landscape designed to change as the seasons turn.
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The garden does not end at its pond’s edge: the distant hills are part of its design. Tenryu-ji’s official history credits Zen master Muso Soseki with creating the landscape, whose composition draws the surrounding Arashiyama scenery into the temple grounds.
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- Tenryu-ji was established in 1339 by Ashikaga Takauji.
- The temple commemorates Emperor Go-Daigo.
- Its garden uses borrowed scenery from the nearby hills.
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