On the far fringes of western Kyoto, a temple sits quietly in the wooded hills. Well off the beaten path (it takes around an hour to get there from downtown Kyoto), this thousand-year-old religious house might have gone unnoticed amidst the slew of other temples in Kyoto that tempt the city's tourists if it weren't for one deciding factor - this temple has a stunning garden. And not just any garden either, but one given over to the cultivation of various forms of moss earning this location the moniker of Moss Temple (Kokedera in Japanese).
Saihoji (as the temple is officially known) is one of Kyoto's UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but its distance from the city and its cumbersome visitation procedure seem to keep the masses from overrunning the garden paths. Founded sometime in the Nara Period, the temple was converted to Zen Buddhism in the early 14th century, at which time the priest and renowned garden designer Muso Soseki created the jewel that is the moss garden.
Limited admission make a stroll in these carefully-tended woods an absolute delight. In most gardens, flowers of colorful hues signal the change of seasons - purple irises in May, blue and violet hydrangeas in June and white or pink lotuses in high summer. Here, on the other hand, the palette is simply a selection of greens though by no means is it a dull sight. After a heavy rain, the garden is particularly atmospheric as the shaded cover of the trees seems to hold the dew on the ground longer.
A visit to Saihoji takes some advance planning so it's best to start at least two weeks in advance of your trip. Permission to visit is only granted in writing - if you are resident in Japan, you can send an ofuku hagaki (return postcard) to the temple with your name, address, age, number of people in your group and proposed dates of visit (include at least two options). They will mail you back the reply on the attached card with the date and time of your visit. (For those not resident in Japan, if someone can mail the card for you, the response can be sent to any of your lodgings in Japan.)
On the day of your visit, bring the response card (DO NOT FORGET!) to the temple at the appointed time and you will be admitted to the main hall. An obligatory "donation" of ¥3000 is requested when you arrive; once you pay, you'll be shown into the main hall for a short sutra-chanting session. Afterwards, you'll be asked to write your name, address and prayer on a small wooden stick that will be laid at the altar when you are finished. The entire process takes less than 30 minutes, leaving you plenty of time to enjoy the garden's beauty.
