Shomyoji -
A Pond in the Snow

It snows only rarely in the Tokyo area and when it does, the thaw sets in immediately afterwards. Waking up on a Saturday in February, I was greeted by a white world. It was not the usual thin slosh, this time a thick layer of snow had covered the city, enticing me to go out and enjoy the temporary pure whiteness.

I think of options such as Kamakura - but then, Kamakura may be crowded by people having the same idea. By coincidence, I opt to go to Shomyoji in Kanazawa Bunko, on the Miura Peninsula below Yokohama. I have heard there are some old temple buildings and a pond, suitable subjects for photos, and a museum to take refuge from the cold if necessary.

From Kanazawa Bunko Station, a ten minute walk through a narrow lane densely lined with small residences, brings me to a path leading unexpectedly to an old temple gate. I would never have imagined there would be a temple here at all.

Behind the Nio gate the temple grounds fan out around a spacious pond. This is a Pure Land-style garden that was restored in 1978. Two bridges - the first one humpbacked, the second flat - lean on an islet in the middle of the water. At the far side stand two sagging old temple halls, the Golden Hall and the Shaka Hall. That last one still has its original roof of thatch. Inside the Golden Hall sits a giant statue of Miroku Bosatsu, the Buddha of the Future, a precious statue from 1276, but the doors are hermetically closed. His time has not come yet.

And snow clothes the whole scene in white. It keeps falling, in small flakes. The red of arched bridges provides an artistic contrast with the snow; as does the black temple bell, a relic from the thirteenth century. The ducks swimming in the cold pond blend perfectly into the scenery. This garden is like a fairy tale, a winter paradise.

The pond in the snow

A Chapel for the Buddha of the Future
Shomyoji was founded in 1267 by Hojo Sanetoki (1224-1276) as a shrine in the grounds of his villa. Sanetoki was a prominent member of the regent family headquartered at Kamakura; later in life, he adopted the family name of Kanazawa, out of love for the area of his residence. The main object of worship is the above mentioned, 1.9 meter high Miroku Bosatsu (the future Buddha) dating from 1276. The shrine was established for Nembutsu services to the memory of Sanetoki's deceased wife, but after meeting the priest Eison he became interested in Shingon Risshu Buddhism.

The temple flourished in the time of Sanetoki's son and grandson, when many halls and pagodas were added: Akitoki added a Miroku Hall, Goma Hall, three-storied pagoda and Sadaaki a Golden Hall, Lecture Hall and the Nio Gate. In the year 1306 the profits of the China trade from Kanazawa Bunko were wholly used for building the temple. However, the temple's fortunes declined with the fall of the Hojo family after 1333. The few buildings existing at present are all later recreations, mainly from the Edo period, such as the 1681 Golden Hall.

The vermilion bridge

A Restored Garden
An ancient map of the temple was used for the restoration of the pond garden in 1978. Together with Motsuji in Iwate, Shiramizu Amidado in Fukushima and Enjoji in Nara, it now features as one of the few existing Pure Land gardens from the late 12th century. The garden was originally laid out by Shoitsu, a monk specializing in garden design. After excavation of the site, the original stones were used where possible.

The form and placement of the bridges was faithfully copied from the map, as were even the types of trees planted around the pond. The garden we see again today, is very close to garden that was enjoyed by Sanetoki. His grave lies on the hill to the rear of the temple, behind an alley lined with cherry trees.

Japan's Oldest Library
More than for this temple and garden, Sanetoki is remembered for the great library, containing thousand of precious volumes, he set up in 1275. Above all, Shomyoji was a center of learning and scholarship. Although Kanazawa Bunko was a private library, it was open to the scholars of the day, such as the famous essayist Yoshida Kenko, the author of the Tsurezuregusa (the library indeed preserves an old copy of this work). It contained an important selection of Chinese and Japanese classics, as well as Buddhist scriptures. Most famous are an old edition of the Wenxuan, a Chinese classic anthology, and a copy of the Issaikyo, a complete edition of the Buddhist scriptures published in China during the Sung dynasty.

Kanazawa Bunko was, together with the Ashikaga Gakko library, one of the most important centers of learning in medieval Japan. In our information age it is almost inconceivable how precious such a library was. Books were expensive and scarce in medieval times, both in Japan and Europe. They were concentrated in only few centers of learning, temples or universities. Knowledge was only for the happy few. The possibility of information overload was inconceivable.

Although the library fell into decline after the Kamakura period, and many books were scattered or lost, today it still contains more than 25,000 books and documents. In 1930 it was restored as a library by the Kanagawa Prefectural Government, bringing together what was left of the old library. In 1990 a new building was set up, standing in grounds next to Shomyoji, connected via a tunnel cut out in the rock.

The garden in another season

Eight Scenes of Kanazawa
The walls of the tunnel have been decorated with copies of Hiroshige's famous 'Eight Scenes of Kanazawa' (Kanazawa Hakkei). These views were selected in the 17th century by a Chinese priest who found inspiration in the Eight Views of the West Lake near Hangzhou. In other words, the inlet of Kanazawa was an area of great scenic beauty.

The eight scenes included 'Night Bell of Shomyoji', referring to the old temple bell at the pond side. Most of the others, however, are only left as poetic names and dainty pictures. Reality has been destroyed, as land reclamation and industrial development have left nothing of the bay's beauty.

The new library building also functions as the Shomyoji museum. It gives an introduction to the life and times of Sanetoki, shows that Kanazawa functioned as a sea harbor for Kamakura and that many ships trading on China anchored here, and provides a miniature copy of the original temple. A second room has a copy of the Golden Hall with the Miroku statue. Mandalas hang on the walls and priestly chant wafts from loudspeakers. For a moment one is back with Sanetoki in the twelfth century, so perfectly the atmosphere has been recreated.

On the second floor of the museum special exhibitions are held. Here the treasures of the library are shown from time to time. The most important are the NT portraits of four members of the Kanazawa family, including Sanetoki.

When I leave the museum, it is already dusk outside. I do not return to the temple, but follow a different route to the coast, where I want to pick up another train line. The snow has started melting. The busy roads are full of black puddles that reflect the electric lights of the cars. Close to the once so famous coast, there is a bridge where I pause. The traffic roars past me. On the opposite side stand several tall apartment buildings on a landfill. The coast line has been changed completely and the newly won land also carries factories and a theme park. The natural beauty of Kanazawa Bunko lies buried under the tarmac and layers of concrete.

Its memory only lives on in the beautiful museum and in the snowy pond spanned by those marvelous vermilion bridges.