[Zen meditation experience for beginners] Experience zazen and appreciating the Nanga paintings of Gyokusei Jikihara at a Zen temple associated with the master of Nanga paintings who grew up on Awaji Island (Minami Awaji, Hyogo)

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Naohara Gyokusei, a master of Nanga painting with ties to Awaji Island, was a painter and haiku poet, but he was also a Rinzai and Obaku sect monk, and became the chief priest of the dilapidated Zen temple Kokusei-an (later Kokusei Zenji) on Awaji Island, where he grew up.

At Kokusei Zenji Temple, which was beautifully rebuilt by Gyokusei, you will first complete a beginner-friendly zazen experience (about 60 minutes), then listen to the current head priest explain the Zen teachings contained in Gyokusei's works while drinking tea, and then view Gyokusei's intimate works that are privately painted and stored in the storehouse within the temple grounds. You will be able to view the rare sliding door paintings and other works up close without any partitions.

We will then move to the Takikawa Memorial Museum of Art Gyokuseikan (about a 5-minute walk, 200m), where many of Gyokusei's paintings are on display, and finally enjoy viewing the masterpieces in the museum's collection.

You can experience a special time of self-reflection through the spirit of "Kuga Zen Ichinyo," which expresses the trinity of Nanga, haiku, and Zen that Naohara Gyokusei loved.

[Naohara Gyokusei]
He spent his childhood in Sumoto. At the age of 16, he moved to Osaka to aspire to become a painter, and was taught by Tomita Keisen and Yano Hashimura, among others, and was frequently selected for the Teiten and Nitten exhibitions. In 1960, he participated in the founding of the Japan Nanga Academy, an incorporated association, and led the Japanese Nanga world as its president from 1991 until his death in 2005.
He was fond of haiku from his childhood, and was selected for a special selection in the haiku magazine "Doujin" edited by Aoki Getto at the age of 17. After the war, he became acquainted with poets of the Hototogisu school, such as Takahama Kyoshi and Yamaguchi Seishi, and wrote many haiku as a member of the magazine.
Furthermore, his encounter with Master Shibayama Zenkei, the chief priest of the Rinzai sect's Nanzenji temple, led the artist to the path of Zen, and he became a monk. In 1980, he restored the Obana sect Kokusei Zenji temple in Minami Awaji city as a Zen monk.

[Southern painting]
Southern school painting, based on ink painting, was introduced to Japan during the Yuan and Ming dynasties in China, and was produced in great numbers during the Edo period, creating a uniquely Japanese world of painting, which eventually came to be known as Nanga.
[Kokusei Zenji Temple]
Also known as Kokusei-ji Temple, it is the only Obaku Zen temple in Awaji, founded by the monk Shozan in the mid-Edo period.
From the time of the 23rd head priest, the chaos that followed the war led to reforms such as land reform, which meant the temple had to give up its farmland, making it difficult to manage and allowing the temple to fall into disrepair.
At that time, the painter Naohara Gyokusei, a Zen painter who was himself a Zen monk and who espoused the idea of the unity of Zen, painting and poetry, saw that Kokusei-ji, a Zen temple on Awaji Island with which he had a connection, was on the verge of collapse and decided to rebuild it.
Starting with the restoration of the main hall in 1980, the temple was renovated with the kitchen, Chinese-style mountain gate, Kutsumon, Seitankan Soken teahouse, Kaisan-do, Tsukimi-tei, Kuga-Zentei and temple grounds, and peonies are grown in the garden, giving the temple an appearance that surpasses that of ancient times.

● Peony
The Peony Festival is held every spring and winter. Please enjoy the colorful peonies and immerse yourself in Zen. For more information, please contact the Kokuseiji Temple Office (TEL: 0799-37-3781).
[Admission Fee] 400 yen (free for junior high school students and younger)

●Daruma
We hold Bodhidharma prayers to pray for the fulfillment of your dreams. Inspired by the indomitable spirit of Bodhidharma, we set goals (wishes), work hard and pray to achieve them safely.
Bodhidharma, the origin of Bodhidharma, was born as the third prince of the Indian kingdom of Xiangzhi. He later became a monk and traveled to China to inherit the teachings of the 28th Buddha, where he spread Buddhism.
His teachings were passed on to Zen Master Huike, and later brought to Japan, and are now known all over the world. In Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma is regarded as the founder, but his indomitable spirit of falling down and getting back up, and facing a wall for nine years, is loved across all sects.