This temple is said to have been founded by Munenaga, a “renga” poetry master who served the Imagawa clan. The garden on the grounds is so beautiful it’s been designated as a national scenic spot. The Japanese characters spell out an image of the moon being spit out from mountains, which is precisely the image you can see when looking at the eastern sky from the garden at night.

There’s a stone in the garden called “Tsukimi-ishi,” which is where Munenaga is said to have gazed at the moon. People used to visit the temple on the harvest moon to watch it rise as they composed lyrics and drank tea.

They must have found contentment in the time they spent waiting for the moon.