The setting of Funda-in, with its wall of camellias and bamboo, spherical-shaped topiary, moss and gravel speak eloquently of a different age, the period of its creator, the great gardener-painter Sesshu (1420–1506). The garden is sometimes referred to as the Sesshu-in.
A small sub-temple of Tofuku-ji, this exquisite but largely overlooked garden originally featured two crane and turtle stone compositions set in a bed of moss. For some reason, the crane setting was dismantled during the early nineteenth century. Fire and neglect also played a part in destroying the original composition of the stone garden.
The southern section of the garden contrasts raked sand with an expanse of moss bordered with trees and hedges. The two rock groupings, rising from a foaming green sea of moss, are islands only in the symbolic sense. Crane and turtles, along with the pine trees used in the garden, are traditional symbols of longevity. The eastern garden has more rocks embedded in moss, a chain of stones representing the mystical Isles of the Immortals in the East Sea.
To the rear of the abbot’s hall is a tiny tea garden and tea house. The view from inside the tea house through the circular moon window forms a beautiful, painterly composition. The garden was restored by Mirei Shigemori in 1939. He added a small crane and turtle garden to the east side of the garden, beside the abbot’s hall. Although the authenticity of the current garden may have been lost to some degree, the spirit of Sesshu’s original composition is skillfully embedded in the more contemporary restoration.
The garden’s main turtle island is built on two levels of stone. Pressed flowers set in the hand-made shoji paper of the shutters are visible in the foreground.
The side garden view from inside the tea house reveals moss and small stone settings representing more turtle, crane and Mount Horai groupings.
Built about 1465, the garden’s main turtle island is erected on two levels of stone. Turtles and cranes are symbols of longevity.
A classic concentration of garden ornamentation that includes a water basin, bamboo water pipe and stone lantern.
A temple roof finial. Its appropriation like this is a good example of the use of suitable recycled objects with the purpose of adding character, age and cultural depth to gardens.
Landscape elements are used to great effect in the southern garden, in front of the Abbot’s Hall, the largest section of the Hasso no Niwa (Garden of Eight Phases).