Daigo-ji
Sprawling Shingon Buddhist temple complex with a Heian-era pagoda and gardens once landscaped for a warlord's final party.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Daigo-ji in Kyoto centers on the spring of 1598, when the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, having just unified Japan by force, ordered seven hundred cherry trees planted overnight for one lavish afternoon with his family, mistresses, and roughly thirteen hundred court ladies. You'll hear why he staged the party knowing his health was failing, and how it shaped the Sanboin garden he began rebuilding beside you, meant for a visit from the emperor that never came. Listen for the story of the five-story pagoda towering behind it all, standing since long before that famous afternoon.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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