Motsu-ji Temple

Motsu-ji Temple preserves one of Japan's most beautiful and historically significant Pure Land gardens, designed in the 12th century to represent the Buddhist concept of paradise on earth. Together with Chuson-ji, it forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi, testament to the sophisticated culture that flourished here under the Northern Fujiwara clan. The temple was founded in 850 AD by the priest Ennin (the same founder of Chuson-ji) and reached its zenith under the second and third Fujiwara lords. At its peak, it reportedly contained 40 pagodas and 500 monks' quarters, making it one of the largest temple complexes in Japan. Though the buildings were destroyed by fire in subsequent centuries, the garden layout survives almost perfectly intact. The garden centers on Oizumigaike Pond, designed according to the landscape gardening principles recorded in Japan's oldest garden manual. Visitors can stroll around the pond, appreciating the careful placement of stones, artificial hills, and the open expanse of water reflecting the sky. Excavated temple foundations allow visitors to appreciate the original scale of the complex. The annual Gokusuien poetry festival in May recreates a Heian-period court tradition of composing poems while sake cups float downstream.