Saioku-ji was originally built as a thatched hut by Socho, a renga (linked poems) poet who worked for the Imagawa Family. Its garden was made by Socho himself. The garden was designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty and Historic Site in 1936. In 1956, the areas around the waterfall and the front gate were added to the designation in order to protect the forests behind the temple as well as Mt. Tenchu, which is essential to the borrowed scenery.
cultural property : historic sites and places of scenic beauty as natural monuments
type : places of scenic beauty, historic sites
3316 Mariko, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka-ken 421-0103
Tel：054-259-3686
It is believed that renga poet, Socho, who worked for the Imagawa Family, built a thatched hut Saioku-ken in his later years, which Imagawa Ujichika renovated to a temple, Saioku-ji. It is also called Togeppo Saioku-ji. The garden was made by Socho, which is written about in his notes. West of the main temple building lies flat land where a small pond is situated and filled with fresh water springing from the north-eastern side.
A variety of trees are planted, and various Tateishi (vertical stones) are arranged along the edge of the pond. The garden utilizes Mt. Tenchu in the west as borrowed scenery.
The garden also has a moon-viewing stone, which is said to be a stone Socho would sit on to enjoy the moon. Behind the moon-viewing stone are the tombs of Socho and his teacher, Sogi, side by side. The garden had been designated as a Historic Site/Place of Scenic Beauty in 1936, but in order to protect the bamboo forest behind the temple and Mt. Tenchu—which is essential for the borrowed scenery—from changes of the environment surrounding Togeppo, the areas around the waterfall and the front gate were added to the designation in 1956.