North garden of Entoku-in Temple (Photo: Tomoko Kamishima)

Kyoto Entoku-in Temple

Home of Nene, legal wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Tomoko Kamishima   - 1 min read

Entoku-in Temple is a tranquil place, even if it is located in the most popular and the busiest sightseeing area in Kyoto, Higashiyama. Here was the last home of Nene, legal wife of preeminent samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). She spent the last 19 years of her life here after Hideyoshi died. She established a good relationship with everyone, even with Jesuit missionaries. Luís Fróis (1532-1597) wrote about her in his work, “History of Japan” that she was an honorable person. The north garden of this temple is composed of lots of giant rocks. Surprisingly, large parts of the rocks are under ground. I think it is interesting that we can enjoy this garden by trying to see what we can't see. By the way, a distinguished Japanese playwright (the Shakespeare of Japan!), Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), also lived here for a while.

Tomoko Kamishima

Tomoko Kamishima @tomoko.kamishima

Japan is a small island nation, but we have a huge number of surprising things to discover here. Many of these delights can be found when you step off the main street onto small side paths. I really enjoy studying about and researching various aspects of traditional Japanese culture, and then sha...