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Temples & Shrines

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Koke-dera literally means "moss temple" and features four and a half acres of otherworldly garden with over 120 types of thick velvety moss carpeting the earth

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The garden is highly influenced by the ideals of the tea ceremony that flourished in the Muromachi era (1338-1573). The ideals of wabi (honesty and understatement) resonated well with the Zen branch of Buddhism, which incorporated tea architecture into temple design. During the Heian period (794-1185)the Japanese began experimenting in unique and abstract ways with the use of rocks of varying shapes and textures were employed to represent both natural formations and man-made structures, such as mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, and bridges. In addition, sand and white pebbles were used to represent water thus eliminating the use of real water (ponds) altogether. In the second half of the fifteenth century, kare-sansui or (lit. dried landscapes) started appearing in Zen