Entsū-in, Buddhist temple complex in Matsushima, Japan
Entsū-in is a Rinzai Zen temple next to Zuigan-ji in Matsushima. Its grounds hold four gardens: a karesansui rock garden, a moss garden around a pond shaped like the character for heart (心), a rose garden, and a stand of cryptomeria. The Main Hall, Daihitei, has a thatched hip roof and was moved from Edo.
Founded in 1647 beside Zuigan-ji as the memorial temple of Date Mitsumune, grandson of Date Masamune and second son of the second Sendai lord, Date Tadamune. Mitsumune died at nineteen. His mausoleum, the Sanneiden, is an Important Cultural Property and a Japan Heritage constituent asset.
The shrine inside the mausoleum of Date Mitsumune carries motifs of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs together with roses and other Western flowers. The rose design is linked to seeds and bulbs brought back from Europe by Hasekura Tsunenaga's Keichō embassy; a rose painted on the shrine cupboard inspired the temple's rose garden.
Entsū-in is a five-minute walk from JR Matsushima Kaigan Station, or twenty minutes from JR Matsushima Station on the Tōhoku Main Line. The temple stands immediately south of Zuigan-ji, so the two can be visited together. The moss garden is at its most striking outside the limited rose season.
The shrine inside Date Mitsumune's mausoleum carries motifs of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs alongside roses and other Western flowers, a reference to the late Sengoku-period contact with Europe. The mausoleum, built in 1647, was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
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