![]() ![]() Fees and rules govern one's sense of these places. ![]() The garden is open to the public, but only by tour schedule, and access is restricted to certain paths and viewing positions-typical of nearly all the gardens in the city. Nevertheless, at 6'4", in my long brown trenchcoat, I was a curiosity in the city, especially among the young inhabitants, and could hardly go anywhere without being the eccentric center of attention. Kyoto is heavily touristed, so Westerners are a familiar sight. Were I to have taken up semi-permanent residence there, I would no doubt have acquired a good bicycle, since that is the most convenient mode of transportation there. COMPASS ROSE PUZZLE JAPANESE PROFESSIONALI had no car of my own, so I got around in the city taxis, which are kept immaculate and efficient by a devoted class of professional drivers. While living in Japan in 1985, I spent the better part of the Fall of that year, living in a ryokan (a kind of Japanese motel or inn) along the river in Kyoto, visiting most of the temples and temple gardens in the city and surrounding. ![]() It's an artifact which could only have been conceived of in Asia, and is like a synthesis of several ideas about the East which have become familiar to travelers and thinkers since the "opening" of Japan in the latter half of the 19th Century. Even for people who know or care nothing for landscape design, or Zen Buddhism, it's a familiar reference symbol for Eastern mysticism and cultural paradigm. The rock garden at Ryōan-ji Temple, in Kyoto, Japan, continues to fascinate scholars, architects and landscape designers, and the lay public the world over. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |