Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Views of/from Tokyo's Rikugien and Kiyosumi Gardens (Photo-essay)

What with the weather being so pleasant (and the skies generally so wonderfully bright blue) for much of the time during my most recent Japan vacation, I couldn't help but want to spend a large part of it outdoors. Thus it was that on day five of my recent Japan sojourn, I ended up visiting not one but two Japanese stroll gardens: one of which -- the Rikugien Gardens in Komagome -- was identified by the Frommer's Japan (principal) author as "probably my favorite"; the other of which, the Kiyosumi Gardens located close to the Fukagawa Edo Museum, I also very much enjoyed checking out.

The following photos consist of four each from Rikugien and Kiyosoumi -- and I'll leave you, the viewer(s), to decide which garden you think is more pleasant and beautiful!

A view to be had at Rikugien Garden --
the strolling, mountain and pond-style garden created
in accordance with six Waka poem elements

An artifical waterfall flows down through a
(similarly artificial?) gorge at Rikugien Gardens

Contemplative scene at Rikugien Gardens
 
View which takes in Togetsukyo, a stone bridge named
after a famous Waka poem about the view of the moon
moving across the sky with the cry of a crane
in a rice paddy heard nearby

A turtle suns itself while perched on a rock at Kiyosumi Gardens

The grounds -- and views of -- Kiyosumi Gardens include
Taisho Kinekan, a post World War II reconstruction
of a building used in connection with
the funeral of the Taisho Emperor (1879-1926)

Within the grounds of the Kiyosumi Gardens,
there also
is a Ryotei built using the methods of
traditional
tea ceremony hall construction
as well as a pond
on whose waters ducks happily float


Puppet Ponyo in her element -- not quite on the cliff
by the sea
but nonetheless on relatively elevated land
overlooking
a body of water full of colorful fish! ;)

4 comments:

alejna said...

What fantastic photos! I especially love the "contemplative scene," the turtle, and shot with the ducks. (I love the ripples!) Both gardens look so beautiful! I bet you took a lot of photos, and I imagine that it was hard to choose just 8 for this post.

I'm happy for you that you had such pleasant weather on your trip.

YTSL said...

Hi Alejna --

glad you like the photos -- and yeah, you're right, I took a lot of photos and had difficulty choosing just 8 for this post -- especially for Rikugen, which is designed in such a way that every turn seems to offer up a completely different view! :)

baroness radon said...

I want to go to Rikuguen!

YTSL said...

Hi baroness radon --

Apologies: I mispelt Rikugien earlier and thus misled you. At the same time, I'm glad that my photos make you want to visit that garden! :)