Japanese garden birds singing, Matsushima, 松島, Japan
Japanese Gardens, Ponds, fish, flowers, Sakura, Japan
Entsū-in, Entsuin, 円通院, Matsushima, 松島, Japan, Japanese Gardens, Ponds, fish, flowers, Sakura, Japan, 心, karesansui garden, Miyagi, Zuigan-ji, Japanese Gardens, Ponds, fish, flowers, Sakura, Japan
Entsū-in (円通院) is a famous Myōshin-ji-branch Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded next to Zuigan-ji in honour of the grandson of Date Masamune. His mausoleum of 1647 is decorated with Namban art, with |motifs inspired by contact with the West and has been designated an Important Cultural Property. There is also a Japanese garden attributed to Kobori Enshū.
The Main Hall has a thatched hip roof and is known as the Daihitei (大悲亭 lit. Great Sadness Cottage?). It was dismantled and moved from Edo. Inside is enshrined a Muromachi period statue of Kannon seated on a lotus throne. Made of Japanese cypress using the yoseki-zukuri technique, it is gilded over lacquer.
Mausoleum
The three-bay Tamaya (霊屋?) or mausoleum of Date Mitsumune, grandson of Date Masamune, was built in 1647 and is an Important Cultural Property. Inside, the shrine of Date Mitsumune is decorated with motifs including spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs, roses and other western flowers. The Tamaya was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Gardens
karesansui garden
The gardens of Entsū-in are divided into four areas: a karesansui garden; a moss garden around a pond shaped like the character for heart (心), attributed to Kobori Enshū; a rose garden inspired by the Date encounter with the Christian west; and a natural stand of cryptomeria. In autumn the temple is celebrated for its momiji.
Temple, Shrine, Island, Ocean, Mastushima, Miyagi, Japan
Matsushima Bay, famous for some 260 tiny islands (島 - shima) covered in pines (松 - matsu) — hence the name -- and ranked as one of Japan's Three Great Views.
In 1689, Haiku poet Matsuo Basho visited Matsushima on the trip recorded in Narrow Road to the Deep North. A well-known poem often attributed to Basho claims to record his reaction, signifying that nothing more could be said:
Matsushima ah!
A-ah, Matsushima, ah!
Matsushima, ah!
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