Komyozenji Temple: The Beauty of Japanese Autumn, Japan

As the summer heat slowly gives way to the crisp cool breezes of autumn, the cities across Japan will be slowly taken over by the striking shades of orange and red as the autumn leaves changed its color. This is the most anticipated moment where most of the people, especially the nature lovers and photographers are waiting for.

When the autumn season arrived, I love going outdoors and hunt down as many places as possible for the amazing fall foliage. So far, the most beautiful autumn that I saw in Japan was the serene rear garden at the Komyozenji, a Zen Buddhist temple located in the city of Dazaifu in the Fukuoka Prefecture. Komyozenji Temple is famous for its Karesansui (枯山水) Garden, commonly known as Japanese Rock Garden or Japanese Zen Garden.

As compared to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, Komyozenji Temple is uncrowded and intimated, and it is a great place to calm your mind and find some inner peace. There are two gardens in the temple, the Front Garden before ticketing counter and the Rear Garden after the ticketing counter:

The Front Garden is the only rock garden in Kyushu. There are 15 rocks in the garden and it is laid around to form a Kanji character of light, “光”.

The Rear Garden is named A Drop of Ocean (Ittekikaitei . 一滴海庭) where the green moss represents the land and the raked white sand represent the ripple of water in the ocean. This dry landscape garden is also surrounded by many Japanese maple trees, making it a popular spot for autumn leaves viewing in Kyushu. The best time to enjoy the fall foliage is around mid November.

Besides the autumn season, I believe the summer season is also a great time to visit Komyozenji Temple, where you get to enjoy a perfect summer green scenery. Anyway, these are the photos that we took during the spring season; the color is not as vibrant as the autumn season, but this Karesansui garden still offers a calm and peaceful atmosphere.