Enkō-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Ichijōji district, Kyoto, Japan
Enkō-ji is a Rinzai-shū Nanzen-ji school temple in Ichijōji, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, formally written 圓光寺, with the mountain name Zuigan-san and Senju Kannon as its main image. Its main hall opens onto the Jūgyū-no-niwa garden, which holds the Seiryū-chi pond, said to be the oldest in Rakuhoku, and a suikinkutsu. A second, dry-landscape garden, the Honryū-tei, was laid out in the Heisei era, and the precinct also has a tea house, a zazen hall, a bell tower and a small exhibition hall.
The temple was founded in 1601 by monk San'yō Genkitsu with backing from Tokugawa Ieyasu, marking a significant moment in its establishment. It initially served as a printing facility for Confucian texts before transforming into a meditation center.
The temple's name is written formally as 圓光寺. Its garden, Jūgyū-no-niwa, contains the Seiryūchi pond, said to be the oldest in Rakuhoku, and a suikinkutsu. The tea house Taigetsu-an is linked to Iwakura Tomomi, who is said to have often taken tea there.
Enkō-ji is about 17 minutes on foot from Eizan Railway's Ichijōji Station, or 400 m east of the Ichijōji Shimomatsu-chō bus stop, just past Shisendō. The grounds open from 9:00 to 17:00. In autumn, a paid early-morning viewing from 7:30 requires a reservation, and the Sunday zazen session at 6:00 also requires booking.
The temple holds 52,320 wooden movable type pieces from the Fushimi edition, printed here under Ieyasu's order; they are the oldest surviving type in Japan and a designated Important Cultural Property, shown in the Zuikaku exhibition room.
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