Myoshin-ji Zazen + Zen Garden and Shojin Cuisine

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Half-day

4 stops · Half-day

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My Trip

At Myoshin-ji, Kyoto's largest Zen temple complex, settle your breath and mind with English-guided zazen, then deeply experience Zen not as sightseeing but as practice over a half day — through a subtemple's karesansui garden, a dragon ceiling painting, and vegetarian shojin cuisine.

Half-day4 stopsEst. budget 50,000 KRW

Itinerary

1
Shunko-in English Zazen春光院
Temple · 90 min stay
Foreigner-friendly zazen led in English by the vice-abbot. With breathing and posture guidance plus a Zen-philosophy talk, it's a rare place where real meditation practice is possible even without Japanese.
오전 좌선 세션 예약 필수
Walk 7 min
2
Myoshin-ji Hatto Dragon Painting妙心寺法堂雲龍図
Temple · Architecture · 30 min stay
A ceiling-filling 'dragon glaring in eight directions' that Kano Tan'yu took eight years to paint. Depending on where you stand, the dragon seems to rise or descend and its eyes follow you — overwhelming Zen art.
Walk 5 min
3
Taizo-in Garden退蔵院
Garden · 45 min stay
A subtemple famous for the National Treasure painting 'Catching a Catfish with a Gourd.' Stroll the karesansui Motonobu garden and the season-shifting yin-yang garden to settle the lingering calm of zazen.
Walk 6 min
4
Shojin Cuisine Ajiro精進料理阿じろ
Restaurant · 65 min stay
A shojin-cuisine institution purveying to Myoshin-ji. A Zen-temple meal of seasonal vegetables, tofu, and yuba with no animal ingredients — carrying practice through to what you eat.
점심 예약 권장