The Garden of Inspiration that Kagizen Yoshifusa Encountered

Encounter of the East and the West

Saihoji Temple is located in western Kyoto which is said to have once been a villa of Prince Shotoku. In 731, the Buddhist priest and bodhisattva Gyoki founded Saihoji as a temple within the Hosso Sect of Buddhism, and in 1339, the high priest and master gardener Muso Kokushi restored the temple as a Zen temple of the Rinzai Sect.
Many famous noblemen and shoguns, such as Yoshimitsu and Yoshimasa of the Ashikaga Dynasty are said to have visited Saihoji for worship.

Mr. Imanishi Zenya, the 15th generation owner of a Japanese traditional sweets shop “Kagizen Yoshifusa” in eastern area of Kyoto, visited Saihoji.

Encounter with a historic sweets shop of Gion, eastern Kyoto

Kagizen Yoshifusa is a sweets shop that has been loved by many people for about 300 years in Gion, the eastern area of Kyoto where the elegance of Kyoto culture still remains.
In 2021, Mr. Imanishi opened ZENBI -KAGIZEN ART MUSEUM- and serves himself as the director of the museum. He does not only preserve tradition but also keeps challenging to create new culture without hesitation, which attracts a lot of attention all over Kyoto.

“I’m sure that I have been here before. But it was so long ago that I can’t remember when it was,” Mr. Imanishi said.

He is busy making sweets and promoting culture and arts, but when we asked him about his impression of the garden of Saihoji, he said, “The air here is so clean and pure… I can’t describe it well, but I feel even the deep inside of my mind gets serene.”

Tranquility in my mind

“The garden was tranquil. I mean, I was overwhelmed not by how quiet the garten was but by how quiet my mind became. I heard that there used to be a villa of Prince Shotoku here in the 7th century. Even for the people of that time, it must have been an enriching experience to spend time in this area outside of the city. There is nothing more fulfilling than being here,” Mr. Imanishi said.

Beauty existing in ordinary things

Mr. Imanishi told us that he still remembers the things that caught his eye when he visited Saihoji last time.
He said, “I was attracted by the stream of water, the sunlight falling through the trees and the shadow falling on the garden, the leaves on the lush moss, and anything else along the garden path. Things we usually don’t notice or pay attention to. I think beauty exists in those ordinary things.”

He continued, "The garden of Saihoji looks artificial, but for me, the garden seems more natural than authentic nature.The word of Vice Head of the temple, "The moss has grown up naturally”, was really impressive and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the untouched and the beauty of things as they are.

What is “As it is”

Saihoji doesn’t remove the leaves on the moss. Gardeners leave them from the moss so that the moss can take a rest and store up their energy until spring comes. The gardiners start caring for the garden again in March. They watch for the right time to start their broom work and then try to do it all at once.
Even when they take good care of the garden, leaves that have been blown by the wind may fall onto the moss after a day.
Rather than removing what is not needed just because visitors see it, Saihoji intentionally shows the view of the garden to the visitors, thereby expressing it "as it is". Mr. Imanishi said that he was deeply impressed by the way Saihoji Temple coexists with nature.

What Saihoji and Japanese sweets have in common

The garden has been preserved by many people with an absolute respect for the irresistible nature as its pillar.
Mr. Imanishi said, “The paths that people walk on are swept clean, and I think temple staff and gardeners really carefully take care of the garden. But their work makes me feel that the nature in the garden is left as it is. Similarly, the more simple Japanese sweets are, the more time and effort is put into making them.
Perhaps there is a similarity between the garden of Saihoji and Japanese sweets making.”

On this day, while Mr. Imanishi was walking around the temple grounds, he came up with an idea for new sweets associated with Saihoji.

That is a beautiful higashi, meaning dry sweets, with green and blue curves on a square white world. It is made of rice flour and sugar, and honey is added to adjust the toughness of the mixture. When the mixture is cut out in square, green and blue curves flow through the fluffy and soft white.

The Garden is a Place for Reflection

“The temple is world-famous for its moss, so I thought about making it all green or mottled and so on. Still, I couldn’t be satisfied and continued to create countless prototypes. I think the garden is a place to reflect on themselves for people with pure minds like the color of white.”
So he reflected his idea in the design and created the white dry sweets with green and blue lines.The two lines reflect the images of the garden’s view that left an impression on him.

“Perception of things differs depending on each person. It wouldn’t be interesting if the sweets were to define the image, I think.”
The colors on the sweets could be moss or leaves, flowing water or sky, or something else. Mr. Imanishi does not explain the meaning of the design that much, but allows the sweets to have a blank so that people can have their own perception.
“After walking around the garden, I was inspired enough. I think sweets will become complete when people who eat them take the sweets home and open the box.
I hope visitors recall what they see, hear and feel at Saihoji when they see this sweets.”

Heart to Heart Communication through Sweets

The dry sweets created in collaboration with Saihoji and Kagizen Yoshifusa are available at Saihoji Temple. Once you open the box, you will have a great experience such as feeling your mind get calm and become sharpened just like the time when you were in the garden.

From now on, Saihoji will definitely weave dialogues with visitors through the sweets.

Imanishi Zenya the 15th generation owner of Kagizen Yoshifusa
Born in Kyoto, in 1972. The owner of Kagizen Yoshifusa, a traditional sweets shop established about 300 years ago in a famous geisha district, Gion.
In 2021, he opened “ ZENBI -KAGIZEN ART MUSEUM- and serves himself as the director of the museum.

Edited by: OKADA Yuki, TERADA Miki
Written by: OKADA Yuki
Photographed by: OKAMORI Daisuke, TERADA Miki
Translated by: FUKUDA Anna