Since the 14th century many of the cultivated nobility strongly rejected the ornate grandeur and elaborate decorations of the town palace. All the villa's buildings were designed above all to harmonize with its natural setting and all of them except one enjoy intentional asymmetry just as natural scenery lacks perfect symmetry. You can find simplicity, silence, and subtlety there.
Interestingly, the villa was built mainly to view the moon, for the Katsura district of Kyoto had always been a favorite place of the court and aristocrats since the Heian peirod(794-1185/1192) for moon viewing.
It was once said that the designer of the villa was Kobori Enshu (小堀遠州）, a high ranking vassal, artist and tea ceremony master who served the Tokugawa Shogunate during the early Edo period, though recent studies deny his direct involvement in it.
Shoin (書院）
Shokintei (松琴亭）
”Ｓｈｏｋｉｎ”ｍｅａｎｓ the sound of Koto (Japanese harp)
Shoin (書院）
I luckily won two free admission tickets in the lottery that Imperial Household Agency drew three months ago though I had never had luck with any lotteries. One was for the Katsura Imperial Villa and the other for the Shugakuin Imperial Villa(修学院離宮）, both of which are in Kyoto.
I was really surprised that I'd won both tickets at the same time. My sister had wanted for a long time to visit them and had written many application postcards so far but had never been chosen and she wasn't this time, either. As a winner is allowed to be accompanied by several people with one admission ticket, my sister and my family got up very early in the morning and set out for Kyoto in early December. I'll write about the Shugakuin Imperial Villa in autumn colors next time.
The Katsura garden reminded me of Kitaro music, Estrella.
22 comments:
Oh those gardens, I could live in them and never leave, beautiful vistas with the sculpted trees and maple leaves and the reflections in the water..
What a delightful place! Lucky you to have won tickets to both destinations. I guess the lottery system is in place to protect the serene beauty? If it were open to the public, a lot of the effect would be lost, I'm sure.
This is what I call a real Japanese Garden!! This is so beautiful, and no matter how hard we try to create some in our side of the world, they never ever have the same purity and genuine touch than those in Japan!
I am glad you won two entrance tickets, for you to enjoy with your family, and for us to have the privilege of admiring your beautiful photos!
What a peaceful and beautiful place. I do love the shoin (I should be glad to stay there and paint...) and its special point of view! You were lucky to win the two tickets and it is a good thing, too, because you appreciate both beauty and nature. Thank you to share such wonderful pictures.
Y la sencillez reinó en el Jardín,
el agua reflejaba la belleza,
tu post derrama armonía y
Kitaro es el broche.
Bss Sapphire
Es maravilloso conocer parte de la historia de Japón contada a través de tan bellas fotografías de un color y belleza que impacta.
Un cordial saludo
Linda
The pond and streams are not deep to create the reflections in the water. Thanks for your comment, Linda!
W2W
Yes. That's one reason. I suppose there are some other reasons;① to avoid overcrowding because so many people want to visit these villas. ② as the imperial villas belong to the Imperial Household, the agency may want to check ID cards(temples and shrines have no ID check systems) to prevenet subversive acts against the villas.
Thanks for reading this post!
DeeBeeL.
Thanks for your comment!!
Princess Diana once visited the Katsura villa with the Prince of Wales and loved it. I think every country has its own beautiful gardens which feature its tradition and reflect the beauty of its nature.
Anne
Thanks! The Shoin would look more beautiful in spring and summer because the moss there ＜what you can see on the ground in the photos is all MOSS not grass(grin)＞is much greener.
MariCari♥♥♥♥♥
Thanks for reading this post! I'm very glad that you liked the Kitaro Estrella!
Sneyder
Thanks for commenting, Sneyder! I'm glad that you liked this garden!!
近くにいながら未だ訪れる機会に恵まれません。さすがにすごい離宮ですね。ここを雅人は別荘としてくつろいだのですね。ヨーロッパの左右対称の庭造りと正反対の趣向。どちらも美しいですが面白いですね。
wow,
I'd like to visit, and I hope to be able to do so in the future...
thank you for your beautiful and very instructive post !
regards
haricot
本当に西洋のガーデンと異なっていて面白いですよね。日本のはなるだけ自然に倣ってつくっていますが、そう見せるのに大変な努力がいるようですね。コメントありがとうございます。
Massimo
Thanks for reading this post. If you have an opportunity, visit it!! I highly recommend it.
Congrats on winning the lottery! Two tickets at one time is great! I love this garden so much. The layered look of all the evergreens is so perfect with the stillness of the water.
Happy Holidays to you Sapphire!
Your photos are so beautiful and artistically taken. Thank you for sharing. I loved it. I may have seen this in 1972 as an exchange student, but my photos are all faded and poor quality. It is so wonderful to visit your blog and learn about the places I visited (since the brochures back then were not printed in English and I did not have an English speaking guide). Thank you!!!
tina
Thanks for reading this post!
Happy Holidays to you too!!
Carolyn
Thanks so much!!
You were very lucky to be able to visit the garden when you were in Japan because those desperately want to visit it don't always win the lottery. Now its english brochures are available but still no English speaking guides.
I’ve never been to either of two imperial villas. I wonder how many people are allowed to enter in a day because I don’t see any people in your photos. Nara is a wonderful place, but when it comes to “Gardens”, Nara is no match for Kyoto. Thank you for this post, Sapphire. Your fabulous photos made me want to visit at any cost and maybe even made me feel more content than my own visit in future.
今日は関西は暖かです。年の瀬を控え、あわただしくなってきますが、お元気でご活躍くださいね。
Dear Sapphire,
thank you for those lovely, lovely pictures and your interesting post! You were so lucky to win those lottery tickets (and your sister, too!) - so that was a big solace for never winning before!
By the way: can one regularly visit these beautiful garden and villa? One of the sites I want to see in my lifetime is Kyoto - my late father told me so much about it, and your photographs show all the beauty.
stardust
Thanks! Our group is about 20 members. The villa offers tours fifth or sixth times a day. I don't know about the exact number but I would assume that about 100~120 people a day visit it.
機会があればぜひ！限られた人数で拝見するので前方に人がうろうろしていたりしません。私は妹に申し込みをさせられたのですが（笑）、まさか当たるとは思いませんでした。 当たってからさてどうしようか？遠いなぁとちょっと困ってしまいましたが、行って大正解でした。日本一の部類でしょうか。
Britta
Thanks! As for the Imperial villas and gardens in Kyoto, it would be rather difficult for you to visit them regularly because you have to win the lottery many times, however, you'll probably be able to visit them more than once during your stay in Kyoto if you write many application postcards.
I've visited many beautiful gardens in Kyoto so far and I bet this garden and the Shugakuin garden(next post) will never disappoint you. But Kyoto has many other beautiful temples and shrines with lovely gardens.
Wow! The strolling garden looks so dreamy and fairytalelike. Really amazing! The secret to that seems to be what you point out:
"All the villa's buildings were designed above all to harmonize with its natural setting and all of them except one enjoy intentional asymmetry just as natural scenery lacks perfect symmetry."
I'm always stunned about how at home I feel when I see your photography!
I love the music by Kitaro...
Thanks for the lovely music and the wonderful pictures. They were a real delight!! Cheers.
Defer
Thank you!! I'm glad that you liked kitaro.
Ruby
Thanks for commenting, Ruby!
Hello, ☆sapphire.
Shadows and colors.
Those fusion is impressive.
Thank you World-wide LOVE.
and, your Support.
The prayer for all peace.
I wish You all the best.
Have happy holidays for you and yours.
良いお年をお迎えくださいませ。
ruma ❀
小グループは、参加者にとってはありがたいですね。そのために招待されない人も多いわけですが。京都御所の一般公開とは格段の違いです。ご回答ありがとうございました。
ruma and stardust
よいお年を！
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