is a park in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It is noted as the main center for cherry blossom viewing in Kyoto, and can get extremely crowded at that time of year (April). The park's star attraction is a weeping

cherry tree A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus '' Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. Th ...

(''shidarezakura'') which becomes lit up at night. It also becomes busy in the New Year's Eve Festivals. The main entrance to the park is through Yasaka Shrine, which sits at the eastern end of

Shijō Street runs in the center of Kyoto, Japan from east to west through the commercial center of the city. Shijō literally means ''Fourth Avenue'' of Heian-kyō, the ancient capital. History The section between Shinkyōgoku street and the vicini ...

in the

Gion is a district of Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan, originating as an entertainment district in the Sengoku period, in front of Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine). The district was built to accommodate the needs of travellers and visitors to the shrine. ...

District. Directly to the north (and abutting the park) is the vast temple of

Chion-in in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the '' nembutsu'', ...

, followed by the smaller temple of

Shōren-in is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. History It was built in the late 13th century. Shinran Shonin, the founder of the Jodo Shinshu pure land sect, was ordained a monk at Shōren-in at the age of nine. Shōren-in was formerly the temple ...

. The park is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty.

References

External links

Information about Maruyama park

Map
Places of Scenic Beauty Parks in Japan Parks and gardens in Kyoto Prefecture Geography of Kyoto Tourist attractions in Kyoto {{Kyoto-geo-stub