The temple complex tofuku-JI temple, founded in the XIII century, has survived in the form which became after the reconstruction in 1890, and its famous gardens, in which they recreated the master of landscape art of Mirai Shigemori in 1939. The monastery is situated in the South-East of Kyoto.

The temple, which became the basis of the whole complex, founded in 1236 Annie monk by order of major policy kamakura era During Mitie. Buddhist monk belonged to the Rinzai school and was trained in China. Upon returning to Japan, he founded the temple, the name of which is derived from a combination of the names of the two temples of Nara - Todai-JI and Kofuku-JI. Earlier as part of the monastery there were more than fifty churches, and now only 24.

The gate of the temple Sammon considered the most ancient Japanese temples among gates of Zen Buddhism and have the status of national heritage. Their height is 22 m, and the triple design symbolizes the liberation from desires and conventional thinking by introducing them to the Zen. The temple is also a UNESCO world heritage site.

On the territory of the monastery there are several gardens, the most famous of which – the North, South, East and West, and the garden of HOJO. Each has its concept and in its own interest.

Playground North of the garden resembles a chessboard where the squares of moss interspersed with stone tiles. South and East are the gardens of stone. In the first there are four groups of stones on the gravel Playground. The location of the stones in the second repeats the pattern of stars in the constellation, Big dipper. For East garden of the stones used in the former grounds of the foundations of the temple buildings. In the Western garden is planted with azaleas, shrubs, bonsai, interspersed with Islands of moss. In the garden, located near the building of the temple servants (HOJO), patches, decorated with gravel and moss, interspersed with bushes of azaleas, which given the shape of parallelepipeds.

The temple attracts many visitors in autumn, when leaves turn red maples, and the monastery became one of the most picturesque parts of Kyoto.