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In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated a nobleman named Ishida Mitsunari in what is widely considered the most desisive and important battle in Japanese history, the Battle at Sekigihara. After resoundingly crushing his opponent, Ieyasu, who assumed the title of shogun, traveled to the small fiefdom on the edge of Lake Biwa where there was a crossroad between the two great cities of Kyoto and Edo. It was here that Ishida Mitsunari had his family castle, known as Sawayama-jyo, located on top of Sawayama mountain. Ieyasu ordered his men to tear down this ancestral home of his opponent and use the materials to construct a new castle on a mountain closer to the lake; today's Hikone-jyo. There he installed a new vassal lord to rule over this extremely important crossroads; Ii Naosuke, the man who was destined to sign the treaty with Admiral Perry which opened Japan up to the west.

After destroying the castle, Tokugawa Ieyasu felt kind of bad about what he had done, you know, destroying the family and all. So he constructed a temple at the base of Sawayama mountain to commemorate the Mitsunari clan. I was fortunate enough to live at this temple, known as Seiryoji, for approximately two weeks. The temple is completely off limits to the public as a whole; only high ranking officials in the government or the Imperial Family are allowed to visit, so I was basically granted free run throughout this extremely important historical and cultural artifact. My host mother let me go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and told me I was allowed to take pictures. It is a zen buddhist temple, and has a wonderful example of a period zen buddhist garden, as well as a meditation hall. Sadly, I seem to have lost my pictures of the meditation hall, but I still have most of the rest of my pictures from my stay there.

So just so you know, you're looking at a temple that can only be visited by members of the Japanese Parliament, the Prime Minister, or members of the Emperors family. The descendants of Mitsunari are also permitted to visit as well, now that I think of it.

Description
In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated a nobleman named Ishida Mitsunari in what is widely considered the most desisive and important battle in Japanese history, the Battle at Sekigihara. After resoundingly crushing his opponent, Ieyasu, who assumed the title of shogun, traveled to the small fiefdom on the edge of Lake Biwa where there was a crossroad between the two great cities of Kyoto and Edo. It was here that Ishida Mitsunari had his family castle, known as Sawayama-jyo, located on top of Sawayama mountain. Ieyasu ordered his men to tear down this ancestral home of his opponent and use the materials to construct a new castle on a mountain closer to the lake; today's Hikone-jyo. There he installed a new vassal lord to rule over this extremely important crossroads; Ii Naosuke, the man who was destined to sign the treaty with Admiral Perry which opened Japan up to the west.

After destroying the castle, Tokugawa Ieyasu felt kind of bad about what he had done, you know, destroying the family and all. So he constructed a temple at the base of Sawayama mountain to commemorate the Mitsunari clan. I was fortunate enough to live at this temple, known as Seiryoji, for approximately two weeks. The temple is completely off limits to the public as a whole; only high ranking officials in the government or the Imperial Family are allowed to visit, so I was basically granted free run throughout this extremely important historical and cultural artifact. My host mother let me go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and told me I was allowed to take pictures. It is a zen buddhist temple, and has a wonderful example of a period zen buddhist garden, as well as a meditation hall. Sadly, I seem to have lost my pictures of the meditation hall, but I still have most of the rest of my pictures from my stay there.

So just so you know, you're looking at a temple that can only be visited by members of the Japanese Parliament, the Prime Minister, or members of the Emperors family. The descendants of Mitsunari are also permitted to visit as well, now that I think of it.