One such place is Shinsenen (‘Garden of the Sacred Spring’), a secluded pond garden housing a few small temple buildings and a traditional restaurant just south of Nijo Castle. In fact, the pond of Shinsenen used to belong to a lake that formed part of the original palace set up for Emperor Kammu in 794, when the capital was moved to Kyoto. The palace stretched for two kilometers north from here and the lake was according to Chinese geomantic rules located at its southern end. So this pond, which is now only visited by egrets, used to be the playground of courtiers in dragon boats!
The pond was also called Oike (‘Honorable Pond’) and has given its name to the broad avenue running from the River Kamo in the east to Tenjingawa in the west, which passes just south of the pond. On the part running east from Nijo Castle, Oikedori has been broadened to 50 meters and is the avenue on which for example the City Hall of Kyoto is located, as well as many offices and hotels. The procession of the Gion festival also passes through this road.
To return to Shinsenen: the remnant of the lake was saved in the 1600s when Toji temple received permission from the authorities to set up a small subtemple here. The garden in its original form already had a link with Toji, as its priest, Kukai (Kobo Daishi) prayed successfully for rain here to the resident dragon during a drought in 824.
That dragon is still honored today in the small temple on the island in the center of the lake as Zennyo ryo-o or ‘Pious Woman Dragon Queen.’ The island is connected to the shore by a stone bridge to the south and by a beautiful vermilion, arched bridge to the west. The main temple to the west of the pond is called Shinsenden and houses an effigy of Kukai. On the east side of the pond are shrines dedicated to Inari and Benten.
There is no entrance fee and the garden is usually visited by people from the neighborhood taking a stroll. The cherry blossoms are mainly to be found on the south side of the pond - there are even a few benches to enable quiet appreciation.