Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Cherry blossoms in Daigo-ji Temple (Kyoto)

This is Sanbou-in Garden(三宝院庭園)in Daigo-ji Temple.(since 1598)
 
Daigo-ji Temple (designated as World Cultural Heritage) was built in 874.
There was a big war in 1467,this temple was devastated.
Lord Hideyoshi restored this temple,
and in 1598,he held a big sakura viewing party at this temple.
That was so grand party,
Hideyoshi invited samurai's wives at this party,they changed their kimono 3 times for this event.
It is said that their kimono cost as much as 4 billion yen.
 
Even now,grand sakura-viewing event is held on the second Sunday of April.It is called "Daigo no Hanami".(I learned that recently.)
The five-storied pagoda is designated as a national treasure.
 

Monday, February 6, 2017

Kurama Mountain

We visited Kurama (located northern Kyoto) last Sunday.
This is Kurama station.
When we got off the train,the air was so chilly.
This is famous Kurama Tengu.
It seems that he injured his nose.
I heard that his long nose was broken under the weight of the snow..
Now he has plaster on his nose. It is funny :)
 
There was so tasteful house (or inn) along the stairs.
This is the entrance of the Kuramadera Temple.
We had to take a cable car to visit the main shrine,
because it was located at the upper mountain.

Finally we reached the main shrine.
Unexpectedly there was still unmelted snow there.
It was so tasteful scene.
We decided to walk down the stairs,not using cable car.
It needed caution,because the stairs were so wet and slippery
On the way,we found the nice shrine covered with snow.
Afterwards,we learned it was Yuki Shrine.
 
Snowy Kurama is so tasteful,
and we will come back again to see beautiful autumn color of Kurama Mountain.
 
Thank you for reading this post.