5) For an all too brief moment the Myōshin-ji (妙心寺) sub-temple of Chōkei-in (長慶院) allows visitors to come and enjoy its gorgeous wisteria.
Nearby Kameya Shigehisa (亀屋重久) provides wisteria-inspired kinton
#藤 #wisteria #Myoshinji #亀屋重久 #妙心寺
The weather forecast couldn't have been more accurate.
I left my house under blue skies. Thirty minutes later I was a snowman and the whole city was blanketed in white.
The snow is mostly gone now, but this was my walk home the other evening
"Zen teaches us to to actively focus on one thing at a time..."
"Eating, walking, wringing out a wet rag. Just focus on that. It can be anything. "
"So right now, take a moment to focus on eating a piece of candy. This is your entrance into Zen."
"Welcome to your 'Inner Trip'."
️SPRING SNOW
There is a saying in Kyōto at this time of year that goes "sankan shion" (三寒四温), "3 days cold, 4 days warm".
I think we may be deep in those 3 days...
LITTLE NEW YEAR
Before the New Year celebrations wrap up, there is one more observance to be made on January 15th.
Tōrin-in preserves the tradition of 'Koshōgatsu' (小正月 'Little New Year'), a once-popular ritual in rural areas, where people would pray for good harvests.
THE IMPERMANENCE OF ALL THINGS
For one week from mid-October each year Tōrin-in (東林院), a sub-temple of Myōshin-ji, illuminates its main garden with 800 candles.
The "Bontō no akari ni shitashimu-kai" (梵燈のあかりに親しむ会) is intended as an elegant form of prayer.
The artist Shibata Zeshin (柴田是真 1807-91) is known as "Japan's Greatest Lacquerer", though he has also been criticized as too modern, too Western and too conservative.
Daiō-in is best known for its 72 fusuma paintings (no photos allowed), created by Shibata on a lengthy stay in 1832.
Taizō-in, a 15 minute walk from our Garden Teahouse, has 3 famed gardens:
Inyō-no-niwa (陰陽の庭 'Garden of Yin and Yang').
Motonobu-no-niwa (元信の庭 'Garden of Kanō Motonobu').Yokō-en (余香苑 'Garden of Lingering Fragrance' - created by the famed landscaper Nakane Kinsaku 中根金作).
THE CATFISH'S BLOSSOMS
The small temple of Taizō-in (退蔵院) has a steady stream of visitors throughout the year, but for a few weeks in spring the crowds press thick against one another in the cramped grounds, all come to gape at a single tree...a 50 year old weeping cherry.
Lined up along the length of the temple veranda were thousands of tiny pieces of sliced daikon radishes, drying in the cold winter air
Despite the recent rain and snow, winter in Kyōto is a bone-chillingly dry affair.
For most communities the New Year began with the first full moon of the first month.
It was customary to eat 'azuki-gayu' (小豆粥), a rice gruel mixed with red adzuki beans, for health and to exorcise evil spirits
Red was considered a protective colour, especially against disease.
LITTLE NEW YEAR
Before the New Year celebrations wrap up, there is one more observance to be made on January 15th.
Nao-san visited Tōrin-in to celebrate 'Koshōgatsu' (小正月 'Little New Year'), a once-popular ritual in rural areas, where people would pray for good harvests.
FOUR SEASONS IN ONE DAY
️
Taizō-in (退蔵院) is the oldest of Myōshin-ji’s sub-temples, known for its beautiful gardens and a famous painting of a smug little catfish.
The temple was founded by the Echizen lord Hatano Shigemichi (波多野重通) some time between 1395 and 1404.]
As the temple is only a short stroll away from the teahouse, Nao-san and I are regular visitors.
No matter the time of year, there is always something new to enjoy
