FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN: October 2022

October 28, 2022

Shokin-tei teahouse and pond garden: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

About the middle of this September, I visited Katsura Imperial Villa (located in Kyoto City, under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Agency), which is esteemed as one of the most exquisite examples of Japanese classic architecture and garden design. I was given a guided tour by the Imperial Household Agency, which lasted only one hour, to look around the pond-garden, the teahouses and the private Buddhist-hall scattered along the pond.

Unfortunately, due to the guiding policy of the Imperial Household Agency which is in charge of managing the facilities, it was not allowed to see the celebrated interior of the main palaces such as the Study halls, the reception hall and so on. The architectural designs, furnitures and interior decorations of these palaces are the highlights of this excellent villa.

The palaces and garden in the present form were completed in 1645 as the residence for the Katsura Family, members of Japan's Imperial Family.

The riverside area of the Katsura-gawa River, where this villa is located, was known for the noted place for moon-watching. There is a shrine called Tsukiyomi Shrine (moonlit-night-viewing shrine) near this villa, and the name "Katsura" is said to be derived from the Chinese word for "moon-viewing."

Katsura Imperial Villa, located in such a location, was basically designed to be a place for viewing the beautiful moon. It also served as a aristocratic place for various entertainments and events, such as boating on the pond, tea ceremonies at its teahouses scattered around the pond-garden, and banquets, in addition to enjoying the moonlight.

The imaginary view of the moonlit pond garden: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The tradition of admiring the moon (Tsuki) beautifully shining in the dark night sky has existed in Japan since ancient times. It is said that the custom of Kangetsu-kai (moon-viewing banquet) was introduced to Japan from China during Heian period (794-1185) and became popular among the nobility of those days.

In those days, the moon-viewing party was the elegant event in which noble people enjoyed boating on the pond, tea ceremonies, improvised poems, and Kangen (wind and string music) associated with the beautiful moon, while drinking liquor, in the grounds of their mansions softly lighted up by moonlight.

The "Tsukimidai" (the platform to view the moon) of the main palace of Katsura Imperial Villa, which is built adjacent to the tranquil pond, is designed to face the optimal direction for viewing the bright harvest moon and its reflection on the calm water of the pond.

Shin-goten (new palace): Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The Shoin (study hall) buildings, Shin-goten (new palace), teahouses, and so on are elaborately located throughout the site of about 6 hectares. This villa is known both in Japan and abroad for its sophisticated architectural design and highly refined "Sukiya-zukuri" style (the tea-ceremony-room style).

The ornaments and furnishings of these buildings and the scenery of the pond garden are admired as one of the most remarkable masterpieces of the residence of a court noble in the early Edo period (1603-1867). This type of architecture is called "Shinden-zukuri" which denotes the typical style of court nobles' houses in the Heian period (794-1185,) which features an extensive garden with paths around a central pond.

At the time of the establishment of this villa, the water level of the pond was the same as that of the Katsura river flowing nearby, and the pond was directly connected to the river by a channel to enable a pleasure boat to go out from the garden to the Katsura River.

The floors of the palace and Shoin buildings are raised high to secure them against the floodwater of the river.

When this garden was covered with floodwater, these buildings, which are made of delicate timbers and paper, might have seemed to be floating gently on the moonlit water like a beautiful sailing ship anchored there.

(Unfortunately, the Shoin buildings were undergoing extensive repairs and were completely enclosed with construction partition panels. Even their exteriors could hardly be seen.)

The interior of Gepparo teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

As having been expressed in the old oriental legends related to the mystic power of the moon, such as the mythological stories of "Chang'e Hongetsu" (Chang'e on the moon) in China and "Taketori Monogatari" (the tale of the princess from the moon) which is the oldest story in Japan, it has been believed in Asia that the moon brings spiritual power to lure people into the celestial world and to give them the elixir of eternal life.

When people looked up at the moon shining in the darkness of night, they probably imagined that the bright moonlight was coming from the immortal realm which was located far away beyond the dark night sky. The moon's dazzling radiance might have been thought to be the path of light between this mortal life and the eternal life after death, through which the mortals would reach the distant paradise of eternal youth and immortality.

This elegant teahouse for autumn named "Geppa-ro" was specially prepared for viewing the harvest moon reflected on the rippling surface of the pond.

The name "Geppa-ro" means the lookout for moonlight waves and is quoted from the passage of a classic Chinese poem by Bai Letian which denotes "the moon is reflected like a single pearl in the center of ripples on water."

The Chinese characters "kagetsu" on the wooden plaque means "composing a poem about the moon."

The view of Shokin-tei teahouse from Gepparo teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (kyoto)

In the deep past, until the spread of the lunar calendar introduced from China, Japanese people perceived intuitively the subtle transition of the seasons through the sensitive awareness of the movements of the sun and the moon, the changes in weather, the flowering and coloring of plants, and other transitions in nature.

The delicate sentiment of admiring the beauty of nature changing from season to season has been the traditional aesthetic sense of Japanese that permeates all Japanese arts, including fine arts, literature and so on. The four seasons and their transitions have been expressed lyrically in a variety of natural scenes symbolized by Kachohugetsu (flowers, birds, wind, and the moon).

According to such aesthetic tradition, the scenery and architecture of Katsura Rikyu have been composed so as to correspond to the qualities of the four seasons for entertaining its guests in each season. It is said that each teahouse in this garden symbolizes each of the four seasons.

While the "Geppa-ro" is the teahouse for viewing the harvest moon and has an typical autumnal character, the "Shokin-tei" teahouse, which is said to have been designed by Enshu Kobori, is considered to represent the season of winter. This teahouse is built in the direction of moonrise on the winter solstice and is equipped with a stone furnace for heating.

The name "Shokin-tei" means "the house of the beautiful tones of the harp and the wind blowing through pine trees." This name was taken from the classic Waka poetry "on the quiet fall night, I wondered which of the beautiful sound of harp or the sound of the chilly wind passing by pine trees was echoing beautifully in this way," which is included in Goshui Wakashu (Gleanings from a Later Collection of Japanese Poetry).

The view of pond garden from Shokin-tei teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (kyoto)

The interior of Shokin-tei teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The stepstones of Shokin-tei teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The interior of Shokin-tei teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

Shokin-tei teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The Chisen-Kaiyu style garden viewed from Shoka-tei teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The facade of Onrindo Jibutsudo: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

The view of Onrindo Jibutsudo from Shoiken teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

Shoiken teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

Shoi-ken ("meaning of a smile" house) is a rural-style teahouse which is designed for entertaining guests in springtime by enabling them to enjoy the hazy spring moon and the colorful spring flowers blooming on the opposite shore.

Unlike the strict aristocratic taste of the other buildings, this teahouse has the appearance of a humble peasant's cottage with a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.

In front of this teahouse, an artificial square pond is provided, the shore of which is a landing place made of straight-hewn stones and is equipped with the two stone-steps for landing from a small boat.

The name "Shoi-ken" was derived from the phrase "a spring smile spills out from a single branch" of a classical Chinese poem.

The interior of Shoiken teahouse: Katsura-rikyu (Kyoto)

This teahouse is designed as a lookout for viewing the spring landscape of the pond garden and is similar to the "Monomi" (watch tower) that existed in the traditional residence of a court noble.

The upper part of the wall facing the outside of the "Kuchi-no-ma" (outer room) is decorated with six moon-shaped Shitaji-mado (base window), which is adding a witty and polished ornamental design to this farmhouse-style teahouse.

The middle room has a window that fills the entire frontage of the two rooms, and this window is intended to present quiet rural scenery along the Katsura River.

The long and narrow waist wall at the bottom of this window is decorated with eccentric and stylish ornaments in the fashion of the Edo period. The center of this long horizontal wall is divided into parallelograms, which are covered with gold leaf, and the triangular spaces on either side are covered with velvet in a checkerboard pattern.