Kanjizaiōin Temple and Garden Site 観自在王院と庭園の跡

Official explanation

The wife of Fujiwara Motohira (1105–1157), the second lord to rule over Hiraizumi, commissioned Kanjizaiōin temple in the twelfth century. The temple had two halls that were dedicated to the Amida Buddha, one large and one small, that stood on the north side of the pond.

The pond at the center of the garden is known as the Dancing Crane Pond (Maizuru ga Ike) and was repaired to restore it to its original form and dimensions. The garden itself is considered to be a representative example of a Pure Land-style garden that was meant to simulate a Buddhist paradise.

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An open area with stones and markers to show where wooden posts once stood can be seen on the west side of the site, bordering nearby Mōtsūji Temple. Part of this was a roofed parking area for ox carts, a common vehicle of twelfth-century aristocrats.

The Kanjizaiōin Temple and Garden site was designated as a Special Historic Site in 1952, a Place of Scenic Beauty in 2005, and is one of the five sites included in the registration of Hiraizumi as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.