南禅寺

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Tall trees reach their branches over from both sides, turning the approach into a tunnel that runs straight ahead. At its end, the roof of a gate can be seen. Kyoto Meishocho (Album of Famous Places in Kyoto), published in 1909 (Meiji 42), introduces Nanzenji with this view of a quiet path.

Nanzenji is a Zen temple dating from 1291. It was ranked even above the Gozan (Five Mountains, a ranking of Zen temples) of Kyoto and Kamakura, giving it very high standing. The great Sanmon gate on its grounds was donated in 1628 by Todo Takatora, to pray for the souls of the samurai killed in the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka. It is known in kabuki as the gate where Ishikawa Goemon cries "Zekkei kana!" (What a splendid view!), but it was built more than 30 years after Goemon's death.

On the grounds also stands the Suirokaku, a brick aqueduct of the Lake Biwa Canal (Sosui) built in 1888, and its row of arches survives to this day.

Glossary