Kōsan-ji

photo by User:＋－ · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Fabimaru · CC BY-SA 4.0

Built from 1935 for his mother, with 15 buildings that copy historic temples and a marble garden.

The complex reproduces in miniature historic temples from all over Japan (a gate inspired by the Yōmeimon at Nikkō, a hall modelled on the Phoenix Hall of the Byōdōin in Uji): 15 buildings in all, today Registered Intangible Cultural Properties (登録有形文化財). On the hill behind the temple, the ‘Miraishin no Oka’ garden spreads a field of 3,000 tonnes of Carrara marble over 5,000 square metres, as white as a lunar landscape.

A complex of temples and gardens at the port of Setoda, on the island of Ikuchijima, along the Shimanami Kaidō. The founder, Kanemoto Kōzō, a welder and businessman who became a monk, began building it in 1935 after his mother's death, reproducing historic buildings over thirty years; the work was completed in 1965. The ‘Miraishin no Oka’ garden was created over twelve years, from 1988 to 2000, by the sculptor Kuetani Itto, born in the same prefecture and with a studio in Carrara.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30) every day of the year. Adult ticket 1,800 yen (Onomichi residents 1,000 yen), high school/university students 1,200 yen, junior high and under free; the Chōseikaku pavilion has a 500 yen supplement. Ferry from Onomichi (about 40 minutes) to Setoda port, then 10 minutes' walk; or 10 minutes by car from the Ikuchijima-kita interchange on the Shimanami Kaidō.

🚉 Setoda Port · 6 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · rurubu.jp · jp.kuetani.net

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