IMPERIAL PALACE, KYOTO –JAPAN JOURNEY

BLOG POST 7
We had lunch at an Indian restaurant and set going to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the former ruling palace of the Emperors of Japan till 1868

 Naruhito the present emperor's main official palace is now in Tokyo . Kyoto was the Capital of Japan till 1868 , is a low-rise city, with lots of private residential areas, many shrines & temples, lots of parks  with very few Industries, as a result it was hardly touched by bombing during Second World War
We found that the Imperial palace was located in a large ,quiet wooded area in the middle of Kyoto and admission was free for a self guided tour.

The roads were being used by the cyclists  and the sprawling lawns for picnics

The Palace burned down several times and was reconstructed faithfully in the ancient style each time. The last rebuilding of the Palace was completed in 1855
Surrounded by an earthen wall called Tsuiji, Kyoto Imperial Palace is rectangular in shape, It has six gates, including the main gate  Kenreimon which had a cypress-wood roof, and was supported by four unpainted wooden pillars

Before we entered , we were thoroughly frisked and given token numbers.

 In contrast to the royal residences we were accustomed to see in India and elsewhere ,we were surprised to discover the simplicity of the palace which had low roof lines and wooden construction

We were only allowed to see the buildings from outside and had a lot of walking to do specially on the gravel road ,good for us that we were wearing sturdy shoes.

While walking around we could see some of the other gates

The main buildings are the Shishinden Hall for State Ceremonies, Seiryōden Emperor's Habitual Residence, Kogosho Court Room, Ogakumonjo , Imperial Study or Library, and a number of residences for the Empress, high-ranking aristocrats and government officials.

The Shishinden was the most important ceremonial building within the palace grounds. The enthronement ceremonies of Emperor Taisho and Emperor Showa took place here.

The garden of white gravel plays an important role in the ceremony. We saw some workers very patiently picking up stones other than white gravel.

The white gravel courtyard became a distinctive feature of Shinto shrines, Imperial Palaces, Buddhist temples, and Zen gardens
Courtyards of this type were used for festivities and typically had a stream flowing under the building and through the courtyard. We saw an exhibit of the bark of cypress tree which constituted the roof of the hall

The Shishinden hall was big, 108 by 75 ft in size, and featured a traditional architectural style, with a gabled and hipped roof. On either side of its main stairway were planted trees which would become very famous and sacred, a cherry (sakura) on the eastern, left side, and a tachibana orange tree on the right to the west.

We saw the carriage / palanquin porch (Okurumayose), reserved for emissaries of the Shogun and other high ranking nobles

Next were the anterooms, Shodaibu-no-ma, three waiting rooms in which guests are allocated to according to their ranks.

First was the “Room of Tiger” for the most important guests, then the “Room of Cranes”, and the “Room of Cherry Trees”, clearly based on the paintings on the fusuma (sliding door).

They had Tatami mats and were very simple and elegant

 I particularly liked the gardens , Oikeniwa or Pond garden, a strolling garden featured a large pond previously a lake and hosted boating parties and the Keyakibashi bridge which symbolizes the path to paradise and immortality.

Bridges could be made of stone or of wood, or made of logs with earth on top, covered with moss ,they could be either arched or flat Sometimes if they were part of a temple garden, they were painted red, following the Chinese tradition, but for the most part they were unpainted

We saw the Gonaitei garden also called inner garden and was the Emperor’s private garden, where various differently designed stone lanterns presented by some prominent feudal lords could be seen.

Japanese stone lanterns date back to the Nara period and the Heian period. They are located at Buddhist temples and at Shinto shrines as well.

We saw many beautiful flowering plants and trees in the gardens like the azalea, the camellia, the oak, the elm, the Japanese apricot, cherry, maple, the willow, the gingko, the Japanese cypress, the cider, pine, and bamboo

Japanese gardens are traditional gardens designed based on Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, artificial ornaments are avoided, and natural landscape is highlighted.

Plants and worn out aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden designers to suggest a natural landscape, and to express the belief that life is fragile and time and tide don’t wait for anyone

Japanese gardens have their roots in the Japanese religion of Shinto, with its story of the creation of eight perfect islands, and of the Shinchi, the lakes of the gods. Prehistoric Shinto shrines to the Kami, the gods and spirits, are found on beaches and in forests all over the island. Prehistoric shrines often took the form of unusual rocks or trees and surrounded with white stones or pebbles, a symbol of purity

Traditional Japanese gardens can be categorized into three types Tsukiyama (hill gardens), Karesansui (dry gardens) and  Chaniwa gardens (tea gardens).

On taking a tour of the gardens we felt the serenity of the Japanese landscape and felt that the simple but deliberate structures of the Japanese gardens are what truly make the gardens unique

Japanese gardens always have water, either a pond or stream, or in the dry rock garden, represented by white sand.
In Buddhist symbolism, water and stone are the yin and yang, two opposites that complement and complete each other. A traditional garden will usually have an irregular-shaped pond or, in larger gardens, two or more ponds connected by a channel or stream and a cascade, a miniature version of Japan's famous mountain waterfalls.

In traditional gardens, the ponds and streams are carefully placed according to Buddhist geomancy, the art of putting things in the place most likely to attract good fortune very similar to our Indian vasthu