Temple · Ohara / Sakyo
Hosen-in 宝泉院
A small Ohara subtemple where you sit with matcha in a tatami room whose open sides frame a bamboo grove and a 700-year-old pine like a living picture.
About
Hosen-in is a former monks' residence of the Shorin-in temple in Ohara, best known for its "picture frame" garden: the shoin's pillars and lintels frame the Bankan-en garden like a painting, dominated by a magnificent five-leaf pine said to be 700 years old, shaped to resemble Mt. Fuji. Admission includes matcha and a sweet, served as you sit on the tatami looking out. The ceiling of the corridor is a "blood ceiling" made from the floorboards of Fushimi Castle, where samurai committed seppuku in 1600, and you can still see stains. There is also a suikinkutsu, a buried jar that makes bell-like tones when water drips into it, heard through bamboo tubes. Seasonal evening illuminations light the bamboo and the maples.
Highlights
- Picture-frame view of bamboo and pine from the shoin
- 700-year-old Goyo-no-matsu pine
- Matcha and sweet included
- Blood ceiling from Fushimi Castle
- Suikinkutsu water chime heard through bamboo tubes
Tips
- It is a 3-minute walk from Sanzen-in; most visitors skip it, so it stays calm.
- Sit near the left pillar for the classic framed composition.
- Evening illumination is held in spring, summer and autumn.
- Shorin-in next door is a quiet hall where shomyo Buddhist chanting was developed.
Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09
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