About a week ago, when the sakura was still blooming, we visited Yoshiminedera (善峯寺). This is a mountain temple to the west of Kyoto, and because it is a mountain temple, the air is cooler and the sakura blooms a little later than in the city. This is the sanmon entrance. It's huge. Here you pay your 500 yen entry fee. It's totally worth it. Beyond the entrance are some … [Read more...]
The Ryōzen Kannon, Kyoto, 1958
...suppose there are immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings who are undergoing various trials and suffering. If they hear of this Bodhisattva Perceiver of the Word's Sounds and single-mindedly call his name, then at once he will perceive the sound of their voices and they will all gain deliverance from their trials. If someone, holding fast … [Read more...]
Hanezu Odori – Dance performance at Kyoto’s Zuishin-in Temple
From the Japan Times, Girls in pale pink traditional costumes will dance and sing in a “Hanezu Odori” performance at Zuishin-in Temple in Kyoto on March 30. The performance will be held three or four times during the day. The temple is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, and admission will be ¥1,000. The temple is a five-minute walk from Ono Station on the Tozai Line. For … [Read more...]
Zuishin-in ~ A Refuge in Ono
As I posted a piece on the autumn leaves at Daigo-ji last week, I thought I might post some pictures I took earlier this year at the nearby Zuishin-in. These pictures were taken in June; the season for irises and azaleas. I think this temple would be good to visit in any season though. It has a very special atmosphere. You can see a slideshow of the gardens through the seasons … [Read more...]
Illuminated Autumn Leaves at Daigo-ji Temple
The ancient temple of Daigo-ji in the Fushimi ward of Kyoto, is currently opening at night to show off it's illuminated autumn colours. Though the leaves hadn't quite reached their peak when we visited at the weekend, they weren't far off and we were glad to get there before it got too crowded. Here are some pictures from our visit. … [Read more...]
Hydrangeas at Mimurotoji Temple
Here are some pictures from Mimurotoji Temple, in Uji which we visited last weekend. We were both very impressed with the expansive and very lovely gardens here. And the hydrangeas in all their many splendoured colours and varieties were amazing. These flowers are on display until July 15th (Monday) so there is still time to see them and the opening hours are 8:30 - 16.30. … [Read more...]
The Stone Garden at Ryoanji
The vacant space of the garden, like silence, absorbs the mind, frees it of petty detail, and serves as a visual guide -a means for penetrating through the "realm of the multitudes." -from "Stone Garden" by Will Petersen. My friend Chris Carver, recently lent me a copy of Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums and fairly early on in the book I found something, or rather someone, … [Read more...]
“Kyoto Uta Kiko” (Song Travels in Kyoto) — Rokuhara-mita Temple
Here's this month's poetry contribution from Keiji Minato: 枇杷の咲く路地抜け右へ折れましてまっすぐ行けば六波羅蜜寺 坪内稔典 Biwa no saku Roji nuke Migi e oremashite Massugu ikeba Rokuhara-mita-ji TSUBOUCHI Toshinori Passing through an alley where you see loquat blossoms and taking a right turn and then going straight gets you to Rokuhara-mita Temple 『京都うた紀行』 (Kyoto Uta Kiko ~ Poetic … [Read more...]
Kōbō-san – The Toji Temple Flea Market
Last Saturday Lucinda Cowing and I went to the flea market at Toji Temple to hand out flyers for our Bring & Buy charity sale on the 28th. The market at Toji takes place monthly on the 21st and is always very popular, but as it fell on a Saturday this month and as the weather was fine there were a LOT of people there and we could give out a lot of flyers. Here's Lucinda in … [Read more...]
Happy New Year!
新年明けましておめでとうございます！今年もよろしくお願いいたします！ Best wishes for a rabbity 2011 to you all! On New Year's Eve, Mewby and I took the advice of John Dougill and visited the Kurodani temple complex to ring out the old and then on to Shimogamo shrine for hatusmode (the first shrine visit of the year). I really have to thank John for suggesting that itinerary. It had been snowing quite heavily … [Read more...]
A Kyoto New Year
This will be the last post for the year as I am going home to the UK for Christmas and will be offline for an ENTIRE WEEK! Before I hand you over to John Dougill for the final word, let me wish you all a very merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. And for those who can't bear to be without Deep Kyoto for a whole week, I have posted a list of categorised 2010 … [Read more...]
A Kyoto Christmas
John Dougill writes... Christmas in Japan comes with a difference. “Romantic Christmas Eve” means all the restaurants and love hotels are booked out: woe betide the man who doesn’t buy his loved one an expensive present. Yet the next morning everyone has to tramp off to work, for Christmas Day is no holiday. The birth of the emperor (December 23) takes … [Read more...]
Autumn Colours at Kinkakuji & Ryoanji
Yesterday Mewby and I braved the autumn weather to see the autumn leaves at Kinkakuji and Ryoanji. The Golden Pavilion at Kinkakuji and the rock garden at Ryoanji are two of Kyoto's most iconic sites and worth a visit any time of year. Right now though the autumn leaves make it just magical! Ryoanji's gorgeous gardens are a twenty minute stroll away from Kinkakuji if you … [Read more...]
Walking Kyoto – Hōnen-in
Ian Ropke writes: This summer take the narrow road south from the gate of Ginkaku-ji Temple to the elevated world of Hōnen-in Temple. Here you will find the sun shining on a large bamboo grove. Here you will find birds singing sweetly high above. Here you will experience long, silent moments. If one walks this same path every day, one will discover the fresh new … [Read more...]
