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2018年11月24日

Enjoy Kimono in Autumn

It has become the season of scarlet maple leaves. In Kyoto, there are many nice viewing spots for these autumn delights. In some gardens and temples/shrines, the ponds in the premises reflect the sparkles of the illumination at night like the mirror, and visitors can enjoy the magical spectacles of tinted leaves of red and ・・・

2018年11月23日

Light Up Event at Shosei-en Garden

Shosei-en (渉成園) Garden, included in one of YUMEYAKATA’s location photo program (https://www.kyoto.yumeyakata.com/syoseien), is a detached territory of Higashi Honganji (東本願寺) temple. Among Kyoto residents, the garden is more commonly known by the name “Kikoku-tei (枳殻邸, a house of trifoliate orange trees)”. The garden was landscaped by Iashikawa Jozan (石川丈山), a samurai commander/literary person in the ・・・

2018年11月23日

A Meisen Silk Scarf

Meisen (銘仙) is a casual type of silk Kimono for ladies which was once very popular during the Taisho (大正) till the beginning of the Showa (昭和) era. I remember my grandmother had a lot of them in her chest. Today, real Meisen are hardly to be seen, let alone to be worn, since they ・・・

2018年11月22日

Sogenchi Pond at Tenryu-ji Temple

Tenryu-ji (天龍寺), a site of World Heritage, is the head temple of Tenryu-ji Temple school of the Rinzai sect (臨済宗天龍寺派). The temple was built by Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏), the founder of the Muromachi shogunate (室町幕府), for the purpose of consoling the soul of the deceased Emperor Godaigo (後醍醐天皇) who was Takauji’s lifetime enemy. Unfortunately, no ・・・

2018年11月21日

Winter Cherry Blossom at Sekizan-Zenin

Close to Shugakuin Rikyu (修学院離宮, one of the former Imperial villas), Sekizan-zenin (赤山禅院) temple established in the Heian (平安) period, is located. Being considered as a guardian of Kyoto at the direction of Kimon (鬼門, Devil’s gate, the north-east direction from the Gosho Imperial palace), the temple is known for the benefits of warding off ・・・