Shodenji Temple

Shodenji stands on a quiet wooded rise at the southern foot of Mount Funa. The present main hall was moved here in 1653 from the Konchi-in of Nanzenji, and the building that served as Fushimi Castle's imperial reception hall became the main hall — its ceiling made from the blood-stained floorboards of that castle. The dry garden in front of the abbot's quarters is a flat garden called the Lion Cubs Crossing. It uses not a single rock: clipped azaleas are set out on white sand in groups of seven, five and three, with Mount Hiei borrowed as the backdrop.