Nonomiya Shrine

Moss garden

Tucked in a middle of the Bamboo Path in Arashiyama is Nonomiya Jinja, a Shinto shrine where Heian princesses would spend a year purifying themselves before serving at the Ise Shrine. The shrine itself is fairly small, but has one of the most unique gardens that I saw. Buddhist gardens seem to always have a pond, an island, and a bridge of some sort to the island. While not a Buddhist garden, this garden fulfills the pattern, but a bit inverted. One could consider the moss as the water, or perhaps it is simply the elevation that distinguishes the pond from the island.