This morning, still with my bicycle, towards the east of Kyoto, a very wooded area, in complete harmony with nature nearby. The ubiquitous water drawn from Lake Biwa, seeps, springs and flows, one feels run under our feet. We guess here a stream, we heard there a small run or the rumbling of a torrent.
The most beautiful landscaped gardens of this area were designed by Jihei Ogawa (1860-1933), also known as Ueji, a renowned Japanese landscape architect, a master gardener from the Japanese Meiji era. In Kyoto, he has created many famous gardens designated as national historic monuments, such as the garden of the Murin-an Villa, Seifuso and Tairyu Sanso, that of Heian Jingu Shrine and Maruyama Park. Ogawa is also known as the gardener who created the garden landscape style of chisen-sansui (land and water) very present in Okazaki-ku.
So I start with the ultimate peaceful place, stuck closer to the mountain, the Eikan-do temple. Impressive wooden buildings, corridors without end, tsuboniwa in all the corners and recesses, all in a forest of red pines and maples. Magnificent ! I love this place!
After a quick lunch of tempura, I go to the gardens Karaku-an and Kasui-en, to discover among others a cascade of a beauty … breathtaking. In the Japanese garden, all is in the art to bring the walker to a feeling of being in nature. Here, we can say that we get really come to doubt. What excellence! Outstanding!
Another beautiful day. Tonight, towards Tokyo … to meet my new garden master specializing in tea gardens. Impatient, I am!
See you tomorrow…