Shōfūen-Santei

　Shigemori Mirei, one of the leading landscape architects of the Shōwa era. Alarmed by the increasing formalisation of the karesansui style, he drew upon modern Western art and other influences to create an avant-garde, new aesthetic for Japanese gardens.

　Considered his greatest masterpiece from his later years are the Shōfūen-santei, situated within the precincts of Matsuo Taisha. The ‘Kokusui-no-en’ (Banquet of the Meandering Stream) was an elegant pastime of Heian-period aristocrats, in which a sake cup was floated down a winding stream within the garden, and participants would compose waka or Chinese poetry before the cup passed before them. Taking this as its motif, the gardens are said to depict a sacred realm inaccessible to humans, through the arrangement of massive boulders and Miyako bamboo.

　Although it is a short distance from Matsuo Taisha, it is well worth visiting in conjunction with Arashiyama and the Moss Temple.