About Shibamata Taishakuten

Tokyo Metropolitan Government designated natural monument (plant)
Auspicious Dragon Pine

Address: 1751-1 Shibamata 7-chome, Katsushika-ku
Designation March 11, 2016

Kyoeizan Daikyoji Temple is known as "Taishakuten." When you enter the temple grounds from the approach through the Nitenmon Gate, you will see the Taishakudo Hall directly ahead, and just before the hall, on the left, is the Zuiryu Pine.

The trunk stretches straight upward, and the large branches extend in three directions: north, south, and west. Of these, the western branch stretches along the cobblestones, while the north and south branches stretch in front of the eaves as if to protect the Taishakudo Hall. Its lively form resembles a dragon ascending to the heavens with its head pointing to the sky and its tail stretching out to the west.

According to legend, Daikyoji Temple was founded in 1629, when its founder, Nichiei Shonin, visited Shibamata and came across a pine tree with magnificent branches and a sacred spring gushing out from beneath it, leading him to establish a hermitage there. The tree Nichiei saw at this time is said to be the Pine of the Auspicious Dragon.

The Zuiryu Pine forms part of the landscape, blending seamlessly with the front of the Taishakudo Hall, and is important as a large, famous tree that conveys the origins of the founding of Taishakuten Daikyoji Temple.

Built in March 2017

Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education

Tokyo designated scenic spot
Daikyoji Temple Suikeien

Address: 1751-1 Shibamata 7-chome, Katsushika-ku
Designation March 11, 2016

Suikei-en Garden is a temple garden located to the east of the Daikyo-ji temple grounds, covering an area of approximately 2,000 square meters. Its history dates back to 1926, when it was depicted in the "Complete Map of the Tokyo Prefecture Taishakuten Temple Grounds," suggesting that it was probably created around that time. Later, in the early Showa period, the garden was extensively remodeled by gardener Nagai Rakuzan (1880-1971), who was commissioned by the 16th head priest of Kanmyo-in Nissei, and was completed in 1965 to take on its current form.

Originally, the garden was a seated garden that could be viewed from the Great Reception Hall, which was completed in 1929, but a large corridor was built in 1960, and now you can walk around the garden by walking along the veranda of the Great Reception Hall.

The garden site is long from east to west, with a pond taking up the northern half, an artificial hill to the northwest, and an island in the northeast. The waterfall that flows from the top of the artificial hill falls in two stages, and the shoreline that juts out into the pond and the island give the water the appearance of a large meander before terminating at the eastern end. Nagai Rakuzan named this garden "Suikeien" (Suikeien Garden) due to the secluded atmosphere of the waterfall.

The south side of the garden is an open lawn, and by raising it above the Great Guest Hall, it creates the illusion that the lawn appears closer. This illusion also has the effect of making the pond in the back appear larger, adding depth to the view from the veranda of the Great Guest Hall.

The garden is lavishly decorated with fine stones, including Seto granite, red stones from the Kamo River in Kyoto, and stone basins made from natural stones from the Katsura River in Kyoto. The garden also features a teahouse called "Fudoan" to the southeast of the pond.

Suikeien Garden, designed by Nagai Rakuzan, is a temple garden of great artistic value that uses a variety of techniques to recreate a secluded valley in a section of Tokyo's lowlands.

Construction: March 2017

Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education