Kyoto Highlights Simple and Unassuming

Solitude at Renge-ji

by William Will

It is a cool, overcast day when I visit Renge-ji. After entering through a simple unassuming gate, I approach the small main building along an old stone path. The morning air is moist and softens everything around me; the leaves glisten as the dew drops fall to the ground here and there. Through a small gate to the right I peak into the garden beyond, poetic and intimate in scale.

As I enter the building and find my way to the main hall, I encounter the garden with its small, shallow pond and exquisite rock settings. The hall is entirely open on two sides, and the veranda and overhanging roof frame the view. The woodwork is exquisite in detail, not a nail to be seen, simple and geometric, a fine example of Japanese carpentry.

Everything about Renge-ji is simple, unassuming. I could not find much about the history of this place, except that it is several hundred years old, a small garden that is considered one of the gems of Japanese landscaping by many. A few well placed rocks frame the pond, combined with small tightly cropped shrubs and the ever present moss of this manmade woodland. The branches of the maples surrounding the pool of water hang low, almost touching the surface, specs of filtered sunlight adding depth and contrast to the scenery from time to time.

Across from the veranda, on the other side of the pond the grouping of one vertical and several horizontal rocks forms the focal point of the enclosed space. The horizontal of a small stone bridge trails off into the background, framing the inlet that feeds the pond with fresh water from the northern mountains. A single ‘turtle’ rock, so called because of its unique shape, forms the middle ground, hovering over the water’s surface, completing the visual composition and creating a dynamic balance between all the elements.

The shallow water of the pond is crystal clear, and from the veranda everything reflects at just the right angle. The rocks and moss of the garden, combined with the individual trees and shrubs found off to the side of the building, combine to make Renge-ji a quiet place of great simplicity, peace and balance.