Tokugawa Mitsukuni
The famous "tsukubai" shown here stands in the grounds of the Ryōan-ji temple in Kyoto, and was donated by the feudal lord Tokugawa Mitsukuni. The kanji written on the surface of the stone are without significance when read alone. If each is read in combination with (kuchi), the shape of the central bowl, then the characters become which translates literally as "I only know plenty" ( = ware = I, = tada = only, = taru = plenty, = shiru = know). The underlying meaning, variously translated as "what one has is all one needs", or "learn only to be content" reflects the basic anti-materialistic teachings of Buddhism.