I arrive in Kyoto around lunchtime, after another relaxing ride on the shinkansen. I’ve not given myself a huge amount of time in Kyoto, so I drop off my bag at the ryokan and head straight out to gorge myself on temples in Kyoto’s historic east: Higashiyama. Within minutes of leaving the ryokan, I stumble into Chion-in, a busy temple complex with huge halls and a multitude of tourists. Chion-in was founded in 1175 and is the home of one of Japan’s most popular Buddhist sects: Jodo, or ‘pure land’.
Wandering through Marayuma park, I find a statue of Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro [pictured] - legendary samurai who contributed to the Meiji restoration but were murdered in Kyoto before they got to see their dreams of a modern Japan realised. The sheer weight of history in this part of Kyoto is almost oppressive.
As I make my way north to Ginkaku-ji and the Philosopher’s Path I decide to limit myself to one temple visit so choose Nanzen-ji, the head temple of one of the Zen sects and home to the famous Leaping Tiger garden, as well as several masterpieces of the Kano school including Tanyu Kano’s screens of tigers in a bamboo grove. I'm clearly not enlightened enough to see the tigers in the rocks of the Leaping Tiger garden, but I can appreciate the balance achieved by the combination of busy vegetation and the dry expanse of raked gravel.
After leaving the serenity of Nanzen-ji, I join the Philosopher’s Path - a hillside walk named after Nishida Kitaro. It’s a very pleasant stroll and I can imagine that before the intrusion of modern life and the bustle of tourists, these moss-covered stones and the tranquil setting inspired many a great thinker.
Before long I am approaching Ginkaku-ji and the Philosopher’s Path joins a wide, commercial street, flanked on both sides by souvenir shops and cafés. Inside the temple grounds the gardens are dominated by a large ‘dry garden’ containing a huge cone of silver sand (Kougetsudai) designed to reflect moonlight during the frequent Moon Gazing festivals that occurred at the temple. The path then continues to Ginkaku, the Silver Pavilion.
Although inspired by Kyoto’s more famous Golden Pavilion, Ginkaku is a simple building; small and dark, it waits for your attention, rather than grabbing hold of it the moment it comes into view. Whether or not the legend is true (that money run out before the pavilion could be covered in silver), I’m left with the thought that the mountainside retreat and moon temple of Ginkaku is just as it should be - blending in with its surroundings, rather than dominating them.
Wandering through Marayuma park, I find a statue of Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro [pictured] - legendary samurai who contributed to the Meiji restoration but were murdered in Kyoto before they got to see their dreams of a modern Japan realised. The sheer weight of history in this part of Kyoto is almost oppressive.
As I make my way north to Ginkaku-ji and the Philosopher’s Path I decide to limit myself to one temple visit so choose Nanzen-ji, the head temple of one of the Zen sects and home to the famous Leaping Tiger garden, as well as several masterpieces of the Kano school including Tanyu Kano’s screens of tigers in a bamboo grove. I'm clearly not enlightened enough to see the tigers in the rocks of the Leaping Tiger garden, but I can appreciate the balance achieved by the combination of busy vegetation and the dry expanse of raked gravel.
After leaving the serenity of Nanzen-ji, I join the Philosopher’s Path - a hillside walk named after Nishida Kitaro. It’s a very pleasant stroll and I can imagine that before the intrusion of modern life and the bustle of tourists, these moss-covered stones and the tranquil setting inspired many a great thinker.
Before long I am approaching Ginkaku-ji and the Philosopher’s Path joins a wide, commercial street, flanked on both sides by souvenir shops and cafés. Inside the temple grounds the gardens are dominated by a large ‘dry garden’ containing a huge cone of silver sand (Kougetsudai) designed to reflect moonlight during the frequent Moon Gazing festivals that occurred at the temple. The path then continues to Ginkaku, the Silver Pavilion.
Although inspired by Kyoto’s more famous Golden Pavilion, Ginkaku is a simple building; small and dark, it waits for your attention, rather than grabbing hold of it the moment it comes into view. Whether or not the legend is true (that money run out before the pavilion could be covered in silver), I’m left with the thought that the mountainside retreat and moon temple of Ginkaku is just as it should be - blending in with its surroundings, rather than dominating them.
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