IN KAGOSHIMA A VISIT WAS MADE TO THE SMALL TOWN OF CHIRAN... AN OUT OF THE WAY TOWN IN A DISTANT PREFECTURE. A PLACE NOT RUN OVER WITH 20TH CENTURY DEVELOPMENT. WELL, IT WAS A MAJOR AIRBASE DURING THE PACIFIC WAR WHERE KAMIKAZE GROUPS WERE TRAINED AND DEPLOYED. THERE IS A MUSEUM...
...WITH ROWS OF VOTIVE STONE LANTERNS, BUT EVIDENCE OF THE AIRBASE IS MINIMAL: THE LAND HAS BEEN RETURNED TO THE FARMERS.
SO THIS STREET OF HOMES OF SHIMAZU CLAN SAMURAI FAMILIES HAS SURVIVED TO GIVE PRESENT DAY VISITORS A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST.
THIS EARLY 19TH CENTURY RESIDENCE, LIKE ALL OF THEM ALONG THIS STREET, HAS, IMMEDIATELY INSIDE ITS ENTRY GATE, A BLOCKING ELEMENT, WHICH PROVIDES PRIVACY WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF CLOSING THE GATE'S DOORS. MAKE A TWIST AROUND IT AND...
...AT THIS HOME, ANOTHER BLOCKING ELEMENT: TWO EXAMPLES OF "HIDE AND REVEAL".
THE FINAL TURN REVEALS THE GARDEN, OFF THE MAIN LIVING AREA OF THE HOUSE. LOW PLANT MATERIAL ALONG THE OPEN SPACE (AS WORKING RESIDENCES THIS GRAVEL AREA WAS PROBABLY PUT TO MANY USES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR), IS BACKED BY PLANTS OF INCREASING HEIGHT, WITH A PEEK-A-BOO "BORROWED LANDSCAPE" VIEW OF DISTANT HILLS.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CENTRAL PART REVEALS A "DRY LANDSCAPE" STONE COMPOSITION OF A WATERFALL, WITH STONE LANTERNS AT THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM OF THE CASCADE.
THIS MID-18TH CENTURY RESIDENCE REPEATS THE PALLET OF LOW THEN INCREASINGLY HIGHER PLANT MATERIAL, LEAVING A "BORROWED VIEW" OF A DISTANT MOUNTAIN.
AND HERE AGAIN THE CENTRAL AREA OF THE GARDEN EVOKES A WATER FALL WITH STONE LANTERNS ALONG THE WATER COURSE. IT ALSO MINIATURIZES THE FIRST VIEW: INCREASING HIGHER STONES AND PLANTS WITH A "BORROWED VIEW" OF A DISTANT STONE "MOUNTAIN".
THIS EARLY 18TH CENTURY RESIDENCE IS GRANDER: A MORE FORMAL GATE, WITH A STOREHOUSE AS ITS BLOCKING ELEMENT, LEADS TO...
...ANOTHER GATE, WHICH "LEAKS" A VIEW OF THE GARDEN BEYOND (HIDE AND REVEAL AGAIN).
NO LOW MAINTENANCE "DRY LANDSCAPE" POND HERE, ITS THE REAL WATERY THING!
IT EVEN HAS A STONE "ZIG-ZAG" BRIDGE, TRAVERSABLE AT LEAST BY AGILE "KAMI" SPIRITS.
A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED RESIDENCE, SINCE IT IS NOW ALSO A COFFEE SHOP, ALAS WAS CLOSED!
WITH A JUMP FROM KAGOSHIMA TO THE MORE VISITED CITY OF KYOTO, AND TO ONE OF IT POPULAR SITES: JISHO-JI. IT CAN BE LISTED UNDER RESIDENCES SINCE IT WAS BUILT IN 1480'S AS THE HOME OF A RETIRED SHOGUN. HE INTENDED TO HONOR HIS GRANDFATHER, WHO BUILT THE GOLDEN PAVILION, BY USING SILVER ON HIS TWO STORY BUILDING. HE NEVER DID, BUT THE IDEA OF IT WAS ENOUGH FOR IT TO BE POPULARLY CALLED "GINKAKU-JI", "THE SILVER PAVILION". UPON HIS DEATH IT WAS MADE INTO A TEMPLE, THUS THE "-JI" ('TEMPLE') AT THE END OF IT'S NAMES.
NO "BORROWED VIEW" FROM THE GARDEN, BUT LOOKING DOWN ON THE COMPLEX FROM THE HILLSIDE BEHIND, THERE IS ALSO A GRAND VIEW ACROSS KYOTO TO THE WESTERN HILLS BEYOND.
FAMOUS FOR ITS PILE OF SAND IN A SEA OF RAKED GRAVEL, OTHER "DRY LANDSCAPE" ELEMENTS ABOUND (A TURTLE? OR A SUBMARINE??)
THIS WELL SITS AND THE END OF...
... OF A SMALL COURTYARD GARDEN.
THERE IS PLENTY OF WATER COMING FROM THE HILLSIDE...
... SO THE GARDEN ALSO FEATURES WATER ELEMENTS OF STREAMS AND PONDS ...
... WITH BRIDGES TO ISLANDS. NOTE THE STONE WITH BLACK TWINE AROUND IT. A POLITE WAY TO SAY "DO NOT ENTER".
THIS BRIDGE IS IN FRONT OF THE TOGU-DO, AN ORIGINAL 15TH CENTURY STRUCTURE.
ANOTHER IS IN FRONT OF...
...THE KANNON-DO (HALL OF THE GODDESS OF MERCY), THE TWO STORY BUILDING WHICH NEVER GOT ITS SILVER LINING.
MURIN-AN IS THE 1896, MEIJI ERA, RESIDENCE AND GARDEN OF PRINCE AND EX-PRIME MINISTER, ARITOMO YAMAGATA. THE MEIJI ERA WAS A PERIOD OF GREAT CHANGE, FROM WHICH GARDEN DESIGN WAS NOT SPARED. THIS ONE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT.
A SIMPLE ENTRY OFF A RESIDENTIAL STREET LEADS TO...
...AND EVEN SIMPLER DOORWAY IN A WALL WHICH TOTALLY BLOCKS VIEW OF WHAT'S BEYOND.
STEPPING THROUGH OPENS TO A VIEW OF ALMOST ALL THE GARDEN AND ITS "BORROWED SCENERY" OF THE EASTERN HILLS. PATHWAYS LEAD IN MANY DIRECTIONS, THE ONE TO THE LEFT TO THE...
...JAPANESE STYLE BUILDING WHERE...
...A BOWL OF GREEN TEA IS WILLINGLY MADE BY A PRACTITIONER OF "THE WAY OF TEA"...
WHILE TAKING IN THE GARDEN THROUGH THE OPEN WALL.
YAMAGATA RECEIVED TWO PINE TREES FROM EMPEROR MEIJI, AND OF COURSE THEY WERE MARKED OFF WITH A DECORATIVE STONE SURROUND. ONE OF THEM DIED, BUT DUE TO THE IMPERIAL PROVENANCE, IT HAS REMAINED EMPTY SINCE. YAMAGATA EXCHANGED MESSAGES WITH MEIJI (IN THE FORM OF POEMS) ABOUT THE GIFT, AND ....
... HE HAD THIS STONE STELE, WITH THE STORY OF THE EVENT, ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE THE EMPEROR'S GENEROSITY.
AT THE END OF THE GARDEN, THE PATH CROSSES THE STREAM, PROVIDING...
...A VIEW BACK TOWARDS THE MAIN HOUSE AND ...
... THE OTHER WAY, UPSTREAM TO THE WATERFALL.
A CAREFULLY ASSEMBLED RISE OF STONES CREATE THREE DISTINCT DROPS OF WATER, EACH DIFFERENT IN HEIGHT, TO PRODUCE THREE DIFFERENT SOUNDS.
A RETURN PATH LEADS TO A TEA HOUSE, PASSING LANTERNS USEFUL DURING EVENING PARTIES.
THIS ONE PROVIDES ILLUMINATION OF THE HAND WASH BASIN, USED BEFORE ENTERING THE TEA HOUSE, WHICH ...
... IS MODERN IN ITS USE OF INTERLOCKING OPEN SPACES, IN CONTRAST TO THE TRADITIONAL SMALL ONE-ROOM TEA HOUSE.
AT THE END IS A WESTERN BUILDING: HALF FIRE RESISTANT STORE HOUSE, HALF WESTERN STYLE PARLORS, WHICH ARE DECORATED WITH ...
...TRADITIONAL MOTIFS PAINTED DIRECTLY ON THE WALLS.
UPON EXITING THE BUILDING, THE STREAM PASSES UNDER A BRIDGE, AND OUT THE GARDEN, JUST AS THE VISITOR PASSES OVER THE BRIDGE AND OUT AS WELL.
