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He who learns to be contented is spiritually rich, while he who does not learn to be contented is spiritually poor, even if he is materially wealthy.'
PROFESSIONAL GARDENER'S GUILD STUDY TOUR
When a place became available on the PGG’s Study Tour of the Gardens in and around Kyoto, I didn’t hesitate to confirm. My little courtyard garden was in dire need of some inspiration and though not a professional gardener, I have always had a keen interest in design and layout, taking into account conditions and aspects. My knowledge of plants is generally very shaky, so I looked forward to improving this, as we had to identify a range of species used throughout these gardens and the key native flora.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND REVUE
As the coach drove us to Kyoto from Kansai airport, Osaka, I was immediately struck by the compacted industrialism and concrete buildings stretching as far as the eye could see, to the mountains in the north. The cities and their infrastructure merge into one another and there is no zoning, no suburbs, everything co-exists alongside the other.
This lack of space and tradition make the Japanese what they are, quiet, courteous, dignified and respectful. I immediately felt at ease and continued to throughout the trip. Despite the crowded areas at the shrines and temples, everything was well ordered and controlled and walking around the busy streets day
or night,
one always felt safe.
The crime rate is low, although scams and fraud are becoming more widespread, but the cleanliness of everything and the general behaviour of the population living so close to one another was a revelation.
As the days passed, with between three and four visits each day to different Temples and gardens, I realised that we had a really varied and interesting group of people in the party of twenty-two. The ages ranged from 20’s – 70’s and there were several trainees as well as older/retired gardeners with many years experience. It was a great mix.
We had the advantage of our group leader, John Humphris,
being very experienced and wise in the structure of the tour and along with Etsuko Sugai,
our admirable guide, everything went without a hitch. Even when two teahouses were burnt down in gardens on the itinerary, a reshuffle was seamlessly put in place.
Having been with other groups on holidays and various activities, I feel this one bonded well and went a long way to making it a memorable tour and one which this lady will remember as significant and informative.
There are so many aspects that stand out, but it is the peace and tranquillity of the gardens and temples that I cherish, despite the crowds. The atmosphere of order and arrangement, not to mention control of everything in sight, was something I found very appealing to my rigid personality, as I like to have boundaries and control in order to feel comfortable with life. It was for me, a very calming and spiritual experience.
I think I have given a small summary of most of the following itinerary, but if I have missed something, I’m sure everyone else will fill in the gaps for themselves.
I see daily, in my mind’s eye, as our own blossom unfolds, the Japanese families picnicking under the trees in the parks and photographing themselves along the Philosopher’s Walk, under their revered cherries.
KYOTO CITY AND NIGHTLIFE
Our hotel was in the heart of the commercial district of the city, with a Starbucks at the front on a raised terrace, which was the first port of call for most of us at the end of each day, as we stepped off the coach. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, our group leader John, assured me it was the norm in all the hotels. Apart from in the hotels, English is not widely spoken, so we had to communicate with mime and gestures, which the Japanese were quite used to and responded with good humour and courtesy.
The street trees that line the main roads are extremely strange looking heavily pruned
Ginko Biloba, naked when we arrived, but were starting to green up by the time we left. It was hard to imagine how they would look in leaf.
Japan’s electricity cables are suspended from concrete poles, in a wild tangle of wires and cables, so weighty that some poles are off the straight under the strain. The cables pass through the street trees and seem to have some protective binding, which made me wonder if they also give support. City tree varieties are
Prunus jamasakura and the hybrid used near water,
Prunus yedoensis. Shrubs I noticed included Spirea, its white spray everywhere,
Euonymus and
Camellia.
The
Kamo gawa river flows through the centre of the city and has about thirty bridges across it as well as several sets of stepping stones. As the river was low at the time we visited, it was hard to imagine water gushing in between the stones, making it hazardous to cross.
We all did different things in the evenings, according to age differences and degrees of exhaustion. The younger group members favoured the English Bar nearby and progressed to karaoke as the days passed. We oldies sometimes ate [and drank!] in our rooms, as the prepared ready meals in Japan are of the highest quality, but Tim and I found
‘Donguri’ restaurant near the hotel and ate there several times, enjoying the theatrical style of cooking in a kitchen open to the public, with lots of shouting and chanting as they expertly went about the business of preparing and serving excellent authentic Japanese food. It made me realise what poor quality food we have back home. One just has to visit the food markets in Japan to see the produce, especially what they do to fish!
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
The Japanese garden has evolved alongside its architecture, mountainous islands, deep valleys, rocky coastline and winding rivers. It reflects the landscape and seasons. The main island, Honshu, contains most of the major cities of Japan, with Tokyo on the central east coast and Osaka, Kyoto [old capital] and Nara, close to the southern sea coast, with a mild climate and seasons similar to Britain.
The climate in Kyoto is greatly affected by the surrounding mountains. Humid for most of the year, moss is the ground cover of choice and as beautiful as any well kept lawn. The mountains in the area are covered to their peaks in
Cryptomeria japonica [Japanese cedar.] Giant Bamboo and Maple species are common and the hillsides have large numbers of the Japanese/Chinese Hill Cherry [
Prunus jamasakura.] The unfolding Maples make a striking contrast beside them.
Kyoto has the greatest range of gardens in and around the city, than anywhere in Japan. To escape the grid like system of the city in the hot, humid summers, the nobility built large gardens on the outskirts, to represent the seasons and flowers.
In the 12th century, Zen Buddhism spread from China, and
Saiho-ji [Temple of Western fragrance] is a perfect example of the transition from the
Heian period which had large stroll gardens with boating lakes to a much more intimate stroll garden where the ponds are small, with three large and four small islands, the celebrated night mooring stones and single rock islands. It has a triple stepped dry waterfall.
Kankaku-ji [The Golden Pavilion] and j
Ginkaku-i The Silver Pavilion] were modelled on this layout.
SPIRITUAL SEASONS
Our visit was to coincide with the blooming cherry blossom, which is a very special spiritual time for the Japanese. We were afraid that with the warmer February this year, the blossom would be out and over, but the cold snap just before we arrived held it in check and we saw it in all its varying beauty.
This time is so important to the Japanese people, as the cherries were built close to the shrines and temples, so they have this religious association. The school year starts at cherry blossom time, so it is a happy time for everyone.
JAPANESE TOURISTS The Japanese visit Kyoto in droves and all the hotels were full. They spread out plastic sheets under the trees and picnicked there with their families, sometimes twenty or thirty at a time.
It was a wonderful sight to witness and gave everyone a great feeling of pleasure and peace. There is however, concern that the roots of the trees are becoming damaged as a result of all the traffic they experience at this time.
THE GARDENSEvery morning at 8.45am precisely, we were met in the foyer of the Karasuma Hotel by our excellent guide, Etsuko Sugai, one of the longest serving and experienced in Japan and she patiently and with quiet good humour, answered all our questions throughout the tour.
THE IMPERIAL PALACE
Situated in the centre of Kyoto, about a mile from our hotel, the entire palace complex is surrounded by a rectangular-shaped
tsuiji, or earthen wall, that surrounds the 27 acre site. There are a total of five gates,
with the southern
Kenrei-mon gate as the main entrance to the palace grounds. Timber and cypress-bark roofing being the building materials of choice in ancient Japan, the entire city of Kyoto, and the Imperial Palace itself were destroyed by the 'Great Fire of Tenmei 8,' in 1788.
The Palace was subsequently rebuilt, and once again destroyed by fire in 1854. The current incarnation of the palace was reconstructed in 1855.
The
Heian-period technique of garden landscaping known as
Go shintai was employed as a way of paying homage to the 'unique and extraordinary' that exists in nature. The massive grounds of the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden totally surround the Imperial Palace. Kyoto Imperial Park is one of the favourite gathering spots for cherry-blossom viewing.
As this was the first garden we visited, it was difficult to accept that we only had an hour to photograph and view, as the tour was tightly scheduled and we were hurried on by grim looking attendants.
This procedure was quite normal in most of the Temple and Shrines, due to the number of visitors, so we made the best of the viewing time we had.
TOWN HOUSE OF THE SUGIMOTO FAMILY
This was a traditional house sighted in the middle of the city and the family had lived there for 150 years, trading from the front room in Kimonos, a garment now out of fashion and can be bought second-hand in the markets very cheaply. About 14 metres of silk was required to make a kimono and cost around a million yen.
The house was of timber and like so many Japanese houses, had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1868. Traditional houses are built to reflect the changing seasons and have sliding wooden partitions and lightweight doors that can be moved easily to make more space. The rooms are all measured as to how many Tatami mats it takes to cover the floor. A mat is 90cm x 180cm.
This form of measurement continues today as an estate agents description of a house or apartment is by the number of mats to the room, normally 4-5 mats.
There was a large veranda overhanging the garden which was by no means large, but despite tall buildings surrounding it, was a calm, tranquil extension of the house itself. There were no modern appliances in the kitchen and it was hard to imagine how the house could be heated by the small charcoal braziers they used, but as it is so well preserved, it has now been granted Heritage status. I was glad to get out into the warm April air of the street, as it was very cold inside.
SANJUSANGEN_DOThis, the longest Temple in Japan [390ft x 54] houses the extraordinary sight of 1001 life size wooden statues carved out of Japanese cedar.
The main statue is of
Kannon Bodhisattva, centrally placed, with 500 images on each side. No-one is prepared for the sight of these gold plated statues stretching the length and breadth of the Temple. It is very powerful.
The garden is mainly a large area of gravel on a level site, dominated by the Temple.
There are several small ponds with plantings of cherries and
prunus nigra.THE GOLDEN PAVILLION
Kinkakuji was constructed in the 1390s as a retirement villa for
Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and features a three-story pavilion covered in gold leaf with a roof topped by a bronze phoenix. Apparently, the retired shogun lived in shameless luxury while the rest of the nation suffered from famine, earthquakes, and plague. If you come here on a clear day, the Golden Pavilion shimmers against a blue sky, its reflection captured in the waters of a calm pond.
However, this pavilion is not the original; in 1950, a disturbed student monk burned
Kinkakuji to the ground (the story is told by author
Mishima Yukio in his famous novel, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion). The temple was rebuilt in 1955 and in 1987 was recovered in gold leaf.
Kinkaku-ji is encompassed by an impressive Japanese strolling garden, while the beauty of the pavilion is reflected in a clear pond (Mirror Pond). The Buddhist creation story is said to be represented by the islands and stones on the pond, and the forest surrounding it makes it one of Japan’s most picturesque settings.
Consequently, it became a prized subject and continues to provide inspiration for countless Japanese artists. In 1994, the pavilion became a World Cultural Heritage site.
KIYOMIZUe
Kiyomizudera ("Pure Water Temple") is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780 and remains associated with the
Hosso sect, one of the oldest sects within Japanese Buddhism. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites. It stands in the wooded hills of eastern Kyoto and offers visitors a nice view over the city
from its famous wooden terrace.
Below the terrace, you can taste the spring water, which gives the temple its name and which is said to have healing power.
Part of the fun of visiting
Kiyomizu is the approach to the temple along the steep
and busy lanes of the atmospheric
Higashiyama district. Except early in the morning, do not expect a tranquil, spiritual atmosphere.
The many shops, restaurants and ryokan in the area have been catering to tourists and pilgrims for centuries. Products on sale range from local specialties such as
Kiyomizu-yaki pottery, sweets and pickles, to the standard set of souvenirs.
HEIEN JINGKUHeian Shrine was built relatively recently in 1895 on the occasion of the 1,100th anniversary of the
Heian Capital foundation. It is dedicated to the first and last emperors that reigned from Kyoto, Emperor
Kammu and Emperor
Komei.
The four gardens which surround the main shrine buildings
on the south, west, middle, and east, have a total area of approximately 33,000 square meters. These stroll-style landscape gardens are designated as a national scenic spot.
The middle garden contains the
Soryu-ike pond which features the
Garyu-kyo, 
a walkway consisting of stone pillars which once served as foundation stones for the girders of
Sanjo Ohashi and
Gojo Ohashi, famous bridges in the center of the city of Kyoto. The pond is surrounded by an exquisite expanse of rabbit-ear irises.
NIJO CASTLEThis castle is on a really grand scale.
It has a gatehouse just inside the moat, then inside the courtyard another huge gatehouse with gold carvings and then the palace itself with an even grander front door. In the grounds is another castle, The
Honmaru and to get to it you have to go over another moat,
built up by huge walls made of blocks of granite.
The garden has a large pond with three islands and features numerous carefully placed stones and topiary pine trees.
The pines in the garden are ferociously clipped and pruned.
The old growth is painstakingly stripped away, leaving only the new needles on show. It is the most obvious reason for keeping the trees from growing and spreading.
The
Seiryū-en garden is the most recent part of the Nijō Castle. It was constructed in 1965 in the northern part of the complex, as a facility for the reception of official guests of the city of Kyoto and as a venue for cultural events.
Seiryū-en has two tea houses and more than 1000 carefully arranged stones.
DAISEN IN
This is one of twenty sub-temples of the
Daitoko-ji complex situated in the North west area of Kyoto and is one of the most celebrated gardens in Japan. It was constructed in 1509 on the grounds of the Zen temple,
Daitokuji, and was completed with the main hall in 1513.
The narrow garden surrounds the main hall on all four sides, encircled by a
karesansui dry stream. The stream 'flows' clockwise from northeast to southwest. Many
karesansui elements are in this garden including: a Mount
Horai 'mountain', crane and turtle islands, stone bridges, and a dry waterfall.
The garden's layout is a clear metaphor for the human path through life. The small turtle swimming against the stream at once represents the classic symbol of good fortune and the futility of swimming against the flow of time. The south garden is the vast white gravel void at the end of life with two gravel cones the only barriers to reaching the lone
Bodhi tree.
THE SILVER PAVILLION
The entrance to
Ginkakuji is a wide gravelled walkway that quietly prepares you for the sight of flat topped conical sand, silvery in colour.
The sand pile is called
Kogetsudai, translated, ‘moon viewing dais.’ To the right is a large raised area of the same white sand, the surface raked with a wave pattern depicting the sea.
At night the reflection of the moon off the sand is like silver. Hence the name of the Pavillion. The rest of the garden climbs uphill into what would be called here a Woodland Garden and at the top are views over the city, as though from a mountain vantage point.
KYABUKI NO SATO [Thatched Roofed Village]
Miyama-cho, dotted with thatched-roof houses near the pure waters of the
Yura River flowing through the green mountains, is famous throughout Japan as the quintessential ancestral hometown. In the northern part of the town are some fifty houses lining an area which measures 600 meters east and west by 300 meters north and south. About half of these houses have thatched roofs.
There is a higher residual ratio of these houses here than anywhere else in Japan. In December 1993, this area was designated by the national government as an Important Traditional Building Preservation District.
Our group were given a traditional meal, Japanese style cross-legged on the floor,
in one of the houses, after which we walked off our aches and pains being shown around the allotments in the area. The rice fields were being prepared for planting and other crops such as pumpkins, brassicas and large quantities of spring onions were all growing.
There is an Indigo museum which has been restored and run by the artist and curator, Hiroyuki Shindo.
Polygonum tinctorium is the plant used to make the dye. He explained and showed us the process used and then let us view his works in the museum upstairs.
TENRYUGI GARDEN AND BAMBOO FOREST
As well as being the location of the famous
Tenryu-ji temple complex and its associated
very beautiful gardens,
Sagano has a grove of interconnected bamboo. Once again the monks or other gardeners had dedicated themselves to pruning trees into miniature and tamed formations.
The garden is a beauty of moss, maples, courtyard stones, pebbles, lanterns, and colourful plants.
It is also a lotus flower garden. The day we visited this garden was overcast, so as we walked up the road through the Bamboo forest,
it would have been nice if the sun had come out to dapple the areas between the forty foot high trees and catch the light.
We walked through the park down to the river as the rain came on and people on boats in the river put up umbrellas and donned rain ponchos. Everyone in Japan, men also, use umbrellas at the first hint of rain. Some women even use them as sunshades at the first blink of sun.
SAIHO JI
The oldest important garden of the
Muromachi Period was re-designed by a Zen Buddhist priest,
Muso Soseki, who also designed the
Tenryu-ji garden in Kyoto. It is a stroll garden, set in a dark forest and designed for meditation.
The garden was originally designed to represent the Western Paradise (or Pure Land) of
Amida Buddhism. It was re-designed by Soseki
when it passed to the Zen Buddhist sect The chief feature of the garden is the 'golden pond' with pavilions scattered on its shore and connected by a path which allows controlled views of the garden. The pond is shaped like the Japanese character for 'heart' or 'spirit'. It is divided by islands and connected by bridges.
The mosses which give the garden its alternative name (
Koke-dere) were established, as an economy measure, after the
Meiji restoration (1868). The moss has become popular and is best seen between May and June.
RYOAN JIRyoan-ji is the most famous and most austere Zen Buddhist garden. A rectangular space is bounded on two sides by a verandah and on the other two sides by walls. Within, the space is covered by raked quartz. Raking produces a pattern around 15 rocks in 5 groups in a significant mathematical relationship They are of 5, 2, 3, 2 and 3 rocks, which link the observer to an abstract conception of nature.
KATSURA IMPERIAL VILLA
Katsura Imperial Villa
was built in the early
Edo Period for Prince
Toshhihito. The prince himself was the main designer, working with
Kobori Enshu, a tea master, government official and garden designer. A lake (1.25 ha) was dug, hills and islands formed, beaches made, pavillions built and planting undertaken. The result was a pleasure landscape. There are 16 bridges. The lake could be used for boating parties and the surrounding land as a stroll garden, in effect a tea garden on an enormous scale. The 'Katsura Tree' (
Cercidiphyllum japonicum) was associated with the God of the Moon and the garden has a platform to view its rising.
There are 23 stone lanterns to light the stroll path after dark. They were a recent introduction to Japanese gardens but have come to be thought of as typical, along with the stepping stones which reinforce the path and protect the plants. Stone basins were used for hand-washing before a tea ceremony.
Katsura was designed not only for meditation (Zen) but also for ceremonious courtly pleasures. Its elegance, balance and harmonious restraint have charmed all visitors.
THE KYOTO BOTANIC GARDENS 
The garden is located in the northern part of Kyoto city bounded on the northern side by the
Kitayama mountain range. We got there early, by underground train
and were met by the very handsome curator, Mr Kaneko, who spent an hour or so focussing on Prunus species.
It was to be the busiest day of the year, with the cherry blossom at its best and families were seen spreading their plastic sheets under the trees
and picnicking for most of the day. I found it very moving to see how much joy there was to be had from this coveted tree.
Mr Kaneko talked of other plantings, but as the least knowledgeable person in the group, I was soon confused and dizzy with too much input, so wandered off and watched the Black Kites swooping down on people’s picnics.
SHOPPING!
I used one of the two ‘free’ days to explore the huge shopping area/indoor market
which stretched for miles on a grid system
and yielded up top quality goodies which I stuffed into a bulging suitcase and brought back home. I have now done my Christmas shopping!
The festive season passes pleasantly now that I'm retired. 
