The Pinnacle of Wabi-Sabi Aesthetics | Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa
I first learned about the Katsura Imperial Villa from reading Nakamura Yoshifumi's writings about visiting Hannah Arendt's home in Denmark. Hannah often watched the moon rise from the sea on her terrace, which reminded him of the Moon-viewing Pavilion at Katsura. Not only Hannah, but modernist masters like Le Corbusier also visited the Katsura Imperial Villa in the early 20th century. For them, this ancient royal residence was their first stunning glimpse of Eastern architecture and aesthetics.
To visit the Katsura Imperial Villa, one must apply on the official website and wait for an email reply before visiting. There are English tours available, but the visit lasts less than an hour, and at each spot, visitors are almost rushed through like ducks being herded.
The guide mentioned that Japanese gardens emphasize the creation of scenery through sound. The rustling of stepping on pebbles, the sound of the wind through pine trees, the cries of cicadas in the heat of summer, and the sound of snow falling in winter are all 'sceneries' beyond what meets the eye in the garden.
As for the architecture itself, the most striking impression is how the royal residence can be so elegantly simple and unadorned. Stone, wood, paper, bamboo, and grass are the main materials, resembling the hermitage of a recluse. The blue and white checkered patterns in the Shokin-tei Pavilion, the color coordination of the walls, and the paulownia wood grain patterns on the washi paper have a very modern aesthetic.
The Katsura Imperial Villa has been almost undamaged since it was built 300 years ago. The most recent restoration was in the 1970s and 1980s, meticulously restored to its original state. Here, one can see the living scenes from the Tale of Genji that date back 300 years.
Many of the photographs used in the Katsura Imperial Villa's guide were taken by photographer Ishihara Yasuhiro in the 1950s and 1960s. His photographs of the villa have been used in many architects' books. I particularly like the black and white series, which is like a quiet, structured poem.
I booked the Katsura Rikyu I wanted to go to once and visited it. The garden was large and it was a garden that showed the whole thing full of the desire to entertain the people who came! There are many detailed plans to entertain the viewer, such as the distance to the calculated gate of a single tree at the end of the scenic fence spreading in the back of the ridge. It was very nice ♡
Guili Palace is a villa of Prince Zhiren of Bajogong and his son, Prince Zhizhong of the second generation. It was built in 1620-1624 years and has an area of about 70,000 square meters. It is composed of villa buildings and gardens, of which the garden part accounts for the majority. There are tea rooms, academies, flower pavilions and other buildings in Guili Palace.
Beautiful courtyard; it is recommended to join an English tour group (a few times a day) and apply online before visiting to ensure you have a place on your trip. The tour is informative and the garden is beautiful. Take the city bus from Kyoto Station. The bus will have relevant information to get you off at the correct bus stop. Gui is very close to the bus stop.
Reservations are required. Foreigners with passports can make an appointment to the next day's visit volume. The path to visit inside is fixed. There is a guide in front and a finish in the back. The route cannot be changed halfway. The garden layout is really Japanese. Every corner has details, moving and changing scenery, and it is extremely elegant. It makes people feel guilty to breathing.
We were lucky to find this attraction, it is actually free. You need to fill out the form in English and take out your passport. The office is in the northern region of Guili Palace. You'd better pick a day to come. We took the bus and locked the bag into the cabinet when we came. This trip was quite long, but we went to many places. The pace of the trip is very slow and there are many opportunities to take pictures. Just a great word can't describe it, the guide here speaks only Japanese, not English. But you need more information to explain if you go wandering around.