Shoboji Temple

South of Oharano Shrine, Shoboji is a Shingon temple whose main hall enshrines a three-faced thousand-armed Kannon designated an Important Cultural Property. The stone garden spread out before the hall is a recent creation, known as the Garden of Beasts: stones shaped like animals are set through it, in a composition that deliberately refuses the conventions of the dry landscape style. In front of the Fudo hall, the suikinkutsu called Hojusen returns a clear, gentle note.