[Hyogo, Minami Awaji] Experience Zen meditation and appreciating the Nanga paintings of Gyokusei Jikihara at a Zen temple associated with the master of Nanga painting who grew up on Awaji Island.

Naohara Gyokusei is a master of Nanga painting who grew up on Awaji Island. He is also a Rinzai Obaku sect monk, and at Kokusei Zenji Temple, which he rebuilt, you can enjoy a beginner-friendly zazen experience and appreciate Gyokusei's friendly Nanga paintings that he personally painted. After the 60-minute zazen experience, you will listen to the current chief priest explain the Zen teachings contained in Gyokusei's works while drinking tea, then move to Minami Awaji City Takikawa Memorial Museum Gyokuseikan (5-minute walk) and view the diverse works of Naohara Gyokusei that are housed in the museum. This is a special experience that expresses the trinity of Nanga, haiku, and Zen, and allows you to feel the spirit of "kugazenichinyo" and reflect on yourself. Naohara Gyokusei is a master of Nanga painting who has ties to Awaji Island. He was also a painter and haiku poet, and a Rinzai Obaku sect monk, and became the chief priest to rebuild the dilapidated Zen temple Kokusei-an (later Kokusei Zenji) on Awaji Island where he grew up. At Kokusei Zenji Temple, which was magnificently rebuilt by Gyokusei, you will first complete a beginner-friendly zazen experience (about 60 minutes), after which you will 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, which are privately painted by Gyokusei and housed in a storehouse within the temple grounds. You will be able to view rare sliding door paintings and other works up close without any partitions. After that, you will 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 view the masterpieces housed in the museum's collection. You will be able to experience a special time to reexamine yourself through the spirit of "Kuga Zen Ichinyo," which expresses the trinity of Nanga, haiku, and Zen that Naohara Gyokusei loved.

He spent his childhood in Sumoto. At the age of 16, he moved to Osaka to aspire to be 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, and led the Japanese Nanga world as its president from 1991 until his death in 2005. He was familiar with haiku from his childhood, and at the age of 17, he was selected as a special selection by the haiku magazine "Dojin," presided over by Aoki Getsuto. After the war, he interacted with haiku poets of the Hototogisu school, such as Takahama Kyoshi and Yamaguchi Seishi, and wrote many haiku as a member of the magazine "Hototogisu." His encounter with Shibayama Zenkei, the head priest of the Rinzai sect of Nanzenji, led him to the path of Zen, and he became a monk and in 1980, he restored the Obana sect Kokusei Zenji Temple in Minami Awaji City as a Zen monk.

It is said that the Nanshu painting, which was introduced to Japan during the Yuan and Ming dynasties in China, was actively painted during the Edo period, creating a uniquely Japanese world of painting, which eventually came to be called Nanga. [Kokusei Zenji Temple] It is also called Kokusei 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 of the postwar period led to reforms such as farmland reform, and the temple became unable to operate and was left to fall into disrepair. At that time, the painter Naohara Gyokusei, a Zen monk himself and a Nanshu painter with the spirit of Kuga Zen Ichinyo, saw that the Zen temple Kokusei Temple on Awaji Island, which he has a connection with, was on the verge of collapse, and he 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 A peony festival is held every spring and winter. Please enjoy the colorful peonies and the Zen meditation. For details, please contact the Kokuseiji Temple Office (tel. 0799-37-3781). [Admission Fee] 400 yen (free for junior high school students and younger) ● Daruma We offer Daruma prayers for the success of all. Inspired by the indomitable spirit of Bodhidharma, we set goals (wishes) and pray that they will be achieved through hard work and dedication. Bodhidharma, the origin of Bodhidharma, was born as the third prince of Xiangzhi in India, later became a monk, and traveled to China as the 28th successor to the Buddha's teachings, where he spread Buddhism. His teachings were passed down to Zen Master Huike, who later brought them to Japan, and are now spread all over the world. In Zen Buddhism, he is revered as the founder, Bodhidharma, but his indomitable spirit, which included many downs and ups and nine years of facing a wall, is well-known across all sects.