The seminar began full force the day after I arrived in Kyoto after a sixteen-hour flight and a fourteen-hour time change. A Sencha tea ceremony was very cleverly scheduled for our first day to combat the heavy jetlag we all felt.  Ogawa Kashin founded the Ogawa school of Sencha tea ceremony in Kyoto about 200 years ago. Kashin devised his own tea brewing rituals and became celebrated as an original minded tea master with modern ideals.

A small treat prepares the palette for the sweet and astringent taste of Sencha.  As the pictures show, the idea is to savor the flavor of the tea from the few drops served in these tiny cups.

In the following days, we visited many gardens and temples and attended lectures.  It’d be hard to mention every one of them so I picked a few I found particularly impressive and transformative.

Kinkaku-ji Temple or Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site, the Pavilion takes your breath away.  Mr. Tamane, the 82-year old head gardener, is equally extraordinary. He allowed us into paths closed to the general public to take in the views of the pavilion and the surrounding gardens from the best angles possible.  The garden and the buildings, centered on the Golden Pavilion, represent the Pure Land of Buddha in this world.

Gonaitei Garden, Kyoto Imperial Palace

This garden is located at the living quarters of the emperor, the Otsunegoten, inside the Kyoto Imperial Palace.  The building houses the Imperial sleeping chamber and the room with the Sacred Sword and the Seal. As the Emperor’s private garden, it feels very intimate with a meandering stream spanned by earthen and wooden bridges.  Beautifully pruned pines and shrubs and charming accents carefully placed throughout the garden creates a space where one can spend hours gazing at each detail.

Many types of lantern adorn the garden, some in plain view, some hidden to be discovered.

Ginkakuji Temple – The Silver Pavilion

Located in the foothills of the East side of Kyoto, this temple was established in 1482 by Ashikaga Yoshimasa.  He intended to cover the pavilion in silver leaf. Although it was never plated with silver, the pavilion, an unpainted brown, looks over the flawlessly raked sand, Ginsyadan, and the white sand Mt. Fuji shaped Kogetsudai.

Tofuku-ji Temple Hojo Garden

The Hojo (Abbot’s Hall) at Tofuku-ji temple was rebuilt in 1890 and Shigemori Mirei, a famous garden designer, laid out the four gardens that surround the building.  He combined tradition and abstractionism to create these contemporary Zen gardens.

The eastern garden with the temple’s foundation pillars

The western garden with square azalea shrubs reflecting an ancient Chinese way of land division.

The southern garden with a cluster of forceful rock groupings and moss covered mounds.  

Visitors sitting quietly and gazing at the dry garden

Foundation rocks and moss in a checkered pattern

My most favorite one, the northern garden, uses foundation rocks and moss in an irregular checkered pattern.  The design, very minimalist and modern, captures you as much as the southern dry garden with its giant rocks and mossy hills.

The seminar also included a visit to a cloisonné museum, a stone cutter’s studio and a trip to Ashu forest for an all-day garden making workshop.  I also loved Kyoto as a town with its lush mountains always in view and ever-present water in the form of rivers, streams, or canals. I already have a list of gardens I will visit next time I’m in town.

A piece from the Namikawa Cloisonné Museum of Kyoto. 

Cloisonné is an old technique for decorating metallic objects where the enamel is poured into wire frame enclosures.

Water’s edge lantern

Kinzo Nishimura, a 4th generation stone lantern maker who designed the famous lantern at Kenroku-en.

All lanterns at his workshop are chiseled by hand. 

Finished lanterns and unworked stone in the foreground

Ayse Pogue is Senior Horticulturist, Chicago Botanic Garden