Autumn colours: Jingo-ji Temple in Takao

Jingo-ji Temple, Takao, Kyoto
神護寺 (京都/高雄)

 

 

 

Takao, Makio and Togano'o are in the mountains west of Kyoto and together are one of the most popular destinations for Autumn colours. Each of the areas has a temple, one of them designated as a World Heritage Site. It takes 50 minutes more or less from Kyoto Station. It is only popular with visitors at this time of year and the rest is sleeping.

potted plum trees

It’s about 1 hour train ride from Kyoto station to Nagahama located at the northern end Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan, in Shiga Prefecture. Just one hour ride takes us to snow-country... but it wasn’t when I went there.
At least I saw Mt. Ibuki covered with snow, it looked beautiful but it wasn’t close enough to make me feel that I had come to snow-country.

Sagano Bamboo Grove

The image of this path is used frequently to introduce Sagano, the Arashiyama area, sometimes as a whole Kyoto or even Japan. This little path is very, very popular not only with overseas but also domestic visitors. There are countless bamboo forests all over Japan, but this is especially favoured because of its serene atmosphere. Many people come to enjoy it, so many in fact the atmosphere is far from serene. –it might be quiet very early morning.


The sound of bamboo blowing the wind is very peaceful and pleasant, indeed.

Heian Shrine Shin-en garden

Shin-en garden, Heian Jingu Shrine, Okazaki Park, Kyoto
平安神宮 神苑(京都/岡崎公園)

I sometimes take guests to Heian (Jingu) shrine, but there aren’t many occasions we visit the garden partly because there’s an admission fee but mainly because of a lack of time.

Today I’ll show you its garden. The second week of June I was requested to take guests to the garden even though they had been to the shrine on a bus tour. I heard that they didn’t enjoy the shrine and it didn’t make any sense wishing to go there again.

When we arrived I finally understood they wanted to see its garden, not the shrine itself.



Japanese iris was almost in full-bloom and water lilies were just coming into bloom. The garden was breathtakingly beautiful.
I’ve been there many times and didn’t appreciate it much. The visit changed my opinion. The garden is transformed by the flowers. It is also a popular destination for cherry blossom viewing which should be lovely as well.


Those two buildings were transferred from the Imperial Palace when the garden was built in 1912 by a prominent gardener Ogawa Jihei, the pioneer of the modern Japanese garden.




Official site/The Garden (English)
Official site/Access (English)

Philosopher’s Path

Philosopher’s Path, Kyoto
哲学の道(京都)

Philosopher’s Path (哲学の道) is the path that runs along the Biwako canal, very popular with both domestic and overseas visitors.


Along the path there’re hundreds of cherry trees originally donated by a wife of Japanese painter Hashimoto Kansetsu and are called Kansetsu sakura (Kansetsu cherry trees): the present trees are not original ones which were planted nearly 100 years ago and they are carefully looked after and bloom every sakura season.


It’s easy to imagine how stunningly beautiful they must be in the cherry blossom season but I’ve never visited at that time myself. I don’t dare jump into the crowds. I may try to visit there at dusk next time.


The path is named after a philosophy professor Nishida Kitaro walked it regularly, hence its name which became officially adopted in 1972.

wisteria in bloom

The Sakura season has gone
and now is the time for wisteria.



In the city centre off a busy street full of office buildings,
there’s a house covered with wisteria.
It has very sweet and pleasant smell.



It is said that the Japanese have thousands of family names
and one of the most common characters
in family names is fuji(藤) meaning wisteria,
the character originally comes from
the old aristocratic Fujiwara(藤原) clan.
It’s found in such names as
Satoh(佐藤), Saitoh(斉藤), Itoh(伊藤)
and shows they are descendant from the family.



The name Fujiwara literally means “wisteria field”
and their clan crest is wisteria.

Travelling in Japan you’ll come across the name of the clan
which once seized absolute power
and left their imprint throughout the country.

probably the last sakura

Sakura in the town

Where the sakura bloom, people gather.
Japanese are crazy about
sakura and momizi maple trees.



Under sakura trees, people party hard!

Sakura at a temple

The Lake Biwa Canal flows into Kyoto from Lake Biwa.

It is a popular destination for sakura viewing

on both the Shiga and Kyoto sides.

Sakura in the country