4/01/2010

Tofuku-ji rock garden.JPG

Sand detail at pavement

Tofuku-ji garden detail.JPG

Sand detail at pavement

Tenryu-ji 4c .JPG

The path to an unknown--to me--building

Tenryu-ji 17a stairs.JPG

Steps into the woods above Tenryu-ji

rubble wall (Taka-ishigaki).jpg

Shosei-in (Kikoku-tei [the Orange Grove])
Kikokutei is the name of a detached residence belonging to Higashi Hongan-ji Temple.

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Shoren-in, is one of the five Monzeki temples of the Tendai sect in Kyoto and was formerly part of the Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt. Hiei.

shoden-ji bowl.jpg

We were the only people, besides a monk, the day we visited. It was raining and the monk had set this bowl outside to catch the water. Not strictly a religious fountain, but close.

Ryoan-ji, fence & Pilgrim's Path.jpg

A gorgeous exit. This fence is known as ryouanjigaki, 龍安寺垣, and is characterized by thick split bamboo that cross diagonally to form a diamond pattern. These are secured by a base made of two heavy split bamboo pieces and a top rail of split bamboo that has a larger diameter than the cross-members. The rail is crowned with a coping of heavy split bamboo. Jaanus

Ryoan-ji (they have their own website). The temple site was originally a Fujiwara family estate, then passed to the Hosokawa clan. Hosokawa Katsumoto lived there before the Ōnin War and willed the war-ravaged property to a Rinzai Zen sect after his death.

Ryoan-ji dry garden.jpg

Dry garden (karesansui): gravel, 15 stones, a great wall.

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An inner stone gate

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Nijo_21.JPG

More like a lonely branch

09 Taizo-in garden.JPG

Dry garden

08 Taizo-in garden.JPG

Close-up of stone in dry garden

3/31/2010

Murin-an entry.jpg

Murin-an is the former villa of Yamagata Aritomo, statesman of the Meiji and Taisho periods. The estate was constructed in 1894 as a stroll garden, designed by Yamagata, around streams fed by the Lake Biwa Canal and incorporating Higashiyama (the Eastern Hills) as borrowed scenery. Along with Shisendo-do, Murin-an provides an opportunity to see an elegant private family residence--as opposed to temple and garden. In 1941 the property was donated to the city of Kyoto which holds it as a cultural asset.