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Mangekyo, Japan through history. On this show, weexplore Japan's famous places
through the lens of history and uncover thestories most people never hear.
By the end of each episode, I hope you'll want tolearn more
and see these places in a whole new way. I'm yourhost, Taiki Arai.
Today, we are heading to Arashiyama on the westernedge of Kyoto.
Arashiyama is a scenic area surrounded bymountains and a river.
You may have seen photos of its towering bamboogrove or the long bridge over the river.
In this peaceful place stands today's temple,Tenryu-ji, a world heritage site.
But the reason this temple was built has nothingto do with peace.
It comes from a story of a fierce war. Tenryu-jiwas built by Ashikaga Takaoji,
the warrior who founded the Muromachi Shogunate,and he built it for an emperor.
An emperor who had been his enemy. Why wouldanyone build a temple for his enemy?
That's the mystery we'll solve today. In our lastepisode, we saw that in 1192,
Minamoto no Yoritomo became shogun. Japan enteredthe age of the samurai
with a shogunate based in Kamakura, far to theeast.
The emperor and the court were still in Kyoto, soJapan had two centers of power.
The imperial court in Kyoto and the samuraigovernment in Kamakura.
Over time, the real power shifted to the samurai.
Then came a major shock. In 1274 and again in1281,
the Mongol Empire, which ruled China as the Yuandynasty, invaded Japan.
The samurai fought hard and drove them back. Butthere was a problem.
This was a defensive war, so there was no new landto hand out as rewards.
The samurai risked their lives and got very littlein return.
Their frustration grew, and the Kamakura shogunatebegan to weaken.
And one emperor in Kyoto was waiting for hischance.
His name was Emperor Godaigo. He had a strongwill, and he believed the emperor,
not the samurai, should rule the country. So heset out to overthrow the shogunate.
One of the warriors who answered his call wasAshikaga Takaoji.
Interestingly, Takaoji had originally served theshogunate.
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He was sent to Kyoto to fight against Godaigo.
But on the way, he switched sides. Why? No oneknows for sure.
The Ashikaga were a proud family descended fromthe Minamoto clan,
and they may have resented to the Hojo family, whocontrolled the shogunate.
There's also a story that Takaoji was forced to goto the war while still mourning his father,
and that this made him angry. In 1333, withTakaoji's help,
the Kamakura shogunate fell about 140 years afterYorimoto founded it.
To reward him, Godaigo gave Takaoji a specialgift, a name.
Takaoji's name was originally written with adifferent character.
Godaigo gave him one character from his ownpersonal name, Takaharu.
Receiving a character from the emperor's own namewas a huge honor.
At the time, a person's real given name wastreated as something precious, almost sacred.
Sharing a character from it was a sign of specialrecognition.
And coming from an emperor, it was the highesthonor a warrior could receive.
But their friendship didn't last.
Godaigo's new government favored the nobles.
The samurai who had risked their lives feltbetrayed.
What did we fight for, they asked.
Takaoji took their side and rose up againstGodaigo.
He ended up fighting the very man who had givenhim his name.
The war went back and forth.
Takaoji was once defeated and fled all the way toKyushu.
But he rebuilt his forces and marched back toKyoto.
In 1336, after taking Kyoto, Takaoji did somethingbold.
He put a different member of the imperial family,Emperor Komyo, on the throne.
And under him, he set up a new shogunate in Kyoto.
This became the Muromachi shogunate.
In 1338, Takaoji was named shogun.
But Godaigo didn't give up.
He escaped from Kyoto to Yoshino, deep in themountains of today's Nara prefecture,
and insisted that he was the true emperor.
So, Japan now had two emperors and two imperialcourts.
The court in Kyoto was called the Northern Court.
The court in Yoshino was called the SouthernCourt, because Yoshino lies to the south.
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This period is known as the Northern and SouthernCourts period,
and the conflict lasted about 60 years.
Imagine living in that time.
Which emperor should you follow?
It's said that even families were sometimes splitbetween the two sides.
Then, in 1339, Godaigo died in Yoshino, neverreturning to Kyoto.
It's said he longed for Kyoto until the very end.
When Takaoji heard of Godaigo's death, he made adecision.
To build a great temple to pray for Godaigo'ssoul.
That temple is Tenryu-ji.
The site he chose was at the foot of Arashiyama,
where there had once been an imperial villa calledKameyama-dono.
It was a place connected to Godaigo himself.
So, Takaoji built a temple for Godaigo on landthat was part of Godaigo's own story.
But why would Takaoji go this far for an emperorwho had been his enemy?
Historians think there wasn't just one reason.
The first is gratitude.
Godaigo was the man who gave Takaoji his name.
Even after they became enemies,
Takaoji may have kept some respect for him deep inhis heart.
The second is fear.
People at the time believed that the spirit ofsomeone who died with a wretch could bringdisaster.
Godaigo died without even returning to Kyoto.
It's said that Takaoji wanted to calm his spiritand pray for his peace.
The third is the advice of monks.
The person who encouraged Takaoji to build thistemple was a Zen monk
named Musou Soseki.
He was respected by both Godaigo and Takaoji, andhe became the founding priest of Tenryu-ji.
Gratitude, fear, and the monk's advice.
Several feelings came together to create Tenryu-ji.
By the way, there's a story behind the name.
Tenryu-ji, which means temple of the heavenlydragon.
Takaoji's younger brother, Ashikaga Tadayoshi,
had a dream in which a golden dragon danced overthe river south of the temple.
That's said to be where the name came from.
Building such a huge temple cost a fortune.
So, Takaoji's government sent trading ships toChina,
which was then ruled by the Yuan dynasty,
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and used the profits to pay for the temple.
These ships are known as the Tenryu-ji ships.
Yes, the same Yuan dynasty that had invaded Japanabout 60 years earlier.
By this time, merchant ships were once againsailing between Japan and the Yuan,
trading with a country that once invaded Japan tobuild a temple for a former enemy.
It's a strange kind of connection, isn't it?
In the Muromachi period,
Tenryu-ji was ranked first among the five greatZen temples of Kyoto.
Its history since then hasn't been easy.
The temple was burned down eight times,
and most of today's buildings were rebuilt fromthe Meiji period onward.
But one thing still keeps its shape from about 700years ago.
The garden called Sogenchi Garden.
For me, this garden was the highlight of Tenryu-ji.
Sitting in front of the pond, I lost track oftime.
I could just sit and gaze at it forever.
And later, I learned something that surprised me.
This garden doesn't stop at the pond and thestones.
It also includes the mountains of Arashiyama inthe distance as part of the design.
Using faraway scenery to complete a garden iscalled
shakkei, or broad scenery.
That's why the garden changes its face with everyseason,
along with the colors of the mountains.
The garden is said to have been designed by MusoSoseki himself,
who was also famous as a master of garden design.
It was the first garden in Japan to be designateda special place of scenic beauty.
Tenryu-ji also has an impressive dragon.
On the ceiling of the Daruma Hall,
there's a huge painting of a dragon in the clouds.
Wherever you stand, the dragon seems to be lookingright at you.
A fitting dragon for a temple named after a goldendragon in a dream.
In 1994, Tenryu-ji was registered as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site
as part of the Historic Monument of Ancient Kyoto.
Here's how I'd recommend exploring the area.
After the garden, walk north and you'll reach thenorth gate of Tenryu-ji.
Right outside is one of Arashiyama's most famoussights, the bamboo grove.
It's a path about 400 meters long, with tallbamboo on both sides.
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When I walked through it, the first thing Inoticed was how cool it was.
The bamboo blocks the sun, so the air feels fresh.
Look up, and light filters down between thestalks.
It's a perfect spot for photos.
It gets very crowded during the day, so if youwant a quiet walk, go early in the morning.
And of course, don't miss Togetsukyo Bridge.
Its name, meaning Moon Crossing Bridge,
is said to come from Emperor Kameyama in theKamakura period.
While boarding here on a moonlit night,
he described the clear moon as if it were crossingthe bridge.
The Kameyama in Kameyama-dono, where Tenryu-ji wasbuilt,
is also the name of a hill right next toArashiyama.
Tenryu-ji and Togetsukyo are both tied to thestories of emperors who loved this land.
The first time I stood at Togetsukyo, what stayedwith me was the sound of the river,
the water flowing below, the blue sky above, andthe garden, and the green mountains beyond.
Everything fit together so perfectly that Icouldn't move for a while.
Cool off in the bamboo grove, sit and relax in thegarden of Tenryu-ji,
and finish by listening to the river at thebridge.
Try spending half a day like that.
Today, we visited Tenryu-ji in Arashiyama.
Emperor Godaigo gave Takaoji his name and thenbecame his enemy.
Takaoji built Tenryu-ji to pray for him.
Behind the peaceful garden lie these complicatedfeelings.
The conflict between the two courts continued evenafter Takaoji died.
The one who finally brought the two courtstogether was
Takaoji's grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, in 1392.
Next time, we'll visit one of Kyoto's most famousbuildings,
built by Yoshimitsu, Ginkaku-ji, the GoldenPavilion.
And here's a surprise.
It wasn't originally a temple.
We'll find out why.
Before I go, a quick note.
I also work as a tour guide.
If you're planning a trip to Kyoto or Osaka andwould like me to show you around,
or if you'd just like to share your thoughts onthe show,
please get in touch through the Google form linkedin the episode description.
This show is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,YouTube, and more.
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I'm Taiki Arai, and this has been Mangekyo.
See you next time.
Goodbye.