Few days in Japan
These are the outer walls of the imperial palace in Kyoto.
Here are the travelers's in Kyoto. Heather, Mirek & Ada (Grzegorz is taking the picture).
All of the palaces & many of the temples had these clay roofs. They look like metal, but are clay tiles.
A gate into the palace. Each gate (mon) has importance, and only certain people can go through each.
Here is the a view of a gate from the inside of the palace.
The tiles at the edge of the roof are imprinted with a design signifying the family, similar to a crest. This palace had a chrysanthemum on the tiles.
A screen used to divide the open floor-plan rooms. This one had painting on it.
And the gardens... Japan is filled with beautiful gardens. This is a typical strolling garden, where every step as you walk around unveils additional beauty.
Here is Honmaru palace, located within the Nijo-jo Castle complex.
Here is the donjon, a tower in the corner of the castle walls where guards could watch for danger.
A backwards view from the donjon, with the moat of the castle visible.
This is a beautiful garden. Too bad I don't remember if this really is at Nijo-jo (Ninomaru Palace gardens) OR the Katsura Villa gardens!
Again, this could/should be the gardens at Ninomaru Palace. The Ninomaru Palace is also located within the walls of Nijo-jo Castle.
Mirek walking up the garden path at the Sento Palace.
This was a great smelling bush at Sento that I wanted a close-up picture of. You can see how close Greg got for me!
At least we were comfortable in the rain with our borrowed umbrellas.
A covered bridge. The bridge is covered in wisteria.
I loved the beautiful lanterns found in the traditional gardens.
Still at Sento Palace, this is one of the many islands in the garden.
Heather & Grzegorz in front of the wisteria bridge.
An interesting temple near our Ryokan (Japanese version of an Inn).
More beautiful gardens.
Look carefully & you will see why even the 400-year old pine trees look so small & interestingly shaped.
Especially for my dad - a genuine Japanese fire truck. They were finishing an inspection before we entered one of the palaces.
One of the entrances to the Shugaku-in Imperial Villa.
Mirek, Ada & myself on a garden path inside Shugaku-in.
Greg posing near a gate for the Villa.
The most famous shelve in all of Japan. They are called the "Trails of Mist" and are mounted along the back of a tea room within the villa.
The gardens at Shugaku-in make use of "borrowed" scenery, as shown in this example with the mountains in the background.
Me sitting on the edge of the tea house that overlooks the gardens.
Cool bridge!
Details of a gate at Nijo-jo.
Entrance to the Nijo-jo Castle complex with Ninomaru Palace in view. The palace is outfitted with Nightingale floors which sing when you walk on them.
We took a side trip to Nara. Here is a 5-story pagoda within the Deer Park.
A Buddhist shrine/altar at a temple.
The wet traveler's in front of the Todai-ji Temple. It is the largest wooden building in the world and houses the Great Buddha, one of the largest bronze statues in the world.
A better view of Todai-ji Temple.
Looking backwards at the gate to Todai-ji from the steps of the temple. The actual temple building is called Daibutsu-den Hall.
After tramping around Nara in the rain all day, we deserved a bit of a rest. We had a traditional Japanese lunch at this tea house overlooking the gardens of Isui-en.
Since most of Nara is in fact a Deer Park, the deer fountain was fitting.
This is the pathway to the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. This Shinto shrine has over 3000 lanterns leading to it. Every fall they have a lantern festival where they light all the lanterns. It must be a beautiful sight!
Close-up of the shrine.
Me on the lantern path.
Different lanterns. I like the stone ones better.
A Torii which indicates that this is a Shinto shrine.
Another Torii.
Another day trip was to Himeji, where we saw the Himeji-jo Castle.
There was a bonsai exhibition at the castle & here are some of my favorites.
And another...
And the last.
A view of the 6-story castle from below the ground floor.
A cool dragon fountain outside a Buddhist temple near our Ryokan in Kyoto.
This is the temple, Higashi Hogan-ji. We visited this temple, and it was very active with classes & students.
Another view of the temple from the street.
Grzegorz posing for a picture in his yukata (Japanese robe) inside our ryokan. We would sit on the pillows to use the table, and sleep on pillows on the tatami floor.
A building/garden within a large temple complex.
Click to look at the bigger picture - there are cool gargoyles on this roof.
A typical cemetery.
A Zen garden. Notice the raked gravel.
And another Zen garden. This is considered the dry, landscaped garden style.
A most beautiful garden at the Taizo-in Temple in Kyoto.
Another cool dragon fountain.
Most of the water features in the gardens also had Koi swimming there.
A wall of the Myoshin-ji Temple complex. This complex was so large, we got a little lost in it.
While we were lost, we walked in front of what could be considered a "typical" Japanese house. Here is a picture of that.
The Golden Pavilion at Rokuon-ji Temple. This temple must have been on every tour bus route, because it was absolutely packed!
Heather on another bridge.
The most famous Zen gardens in all the world are at the Ryoan-ji Temple. They say the longer you stare at the scene, the more it will change for you.
Ryoan-ji also had a wonderful pond with waterlilies & turtles.
Buddhist temple on a side street somewhere in Kyoto.
The Heian-jingu Shinto Shrine. This complex was HUGE!
A most beautiful garden within the Heian Shrine. There were cherry trees everywhere, so I'm sure the spring is spectacular.
Greg on a stepping stone - again in the gardens at the Heian Shrine.
A building at the Heian Shrine.
Gardens, still within the Heian Shrine.
Another dragon, along with Greg purifying himself.
This massive torii gate is made of steel and marks the entrance to the Heian Shrine.
Every spring in the Gion district, there are performances by the Geiko (Geisha) and Meiko (apprentice Geisha). We were lucky enough to get seats to a show.
No flashes were permitted, but some of the beauty of the costumes & make-up still show up here.
More geisha...