Momijigari with Elizabeth Rose - Shugakuin Imperial Villa, Kyoto
One of the stops I most enjoyed during the Kyoto leg of our autumn 2016 trip was Shugakuin Imperial Villa (or Shugakuin Rikyu). As this imperial property can only be accessed by an Imperial Household Agency-led tour, we made an advanced booking at the Imperial Household Agency office. It was not that much of a hassle since we had to book for Sentō Imperial Palace and Tokyo Imperial Palace.
Shugakuin Imperial Villa (修学院離宮) was constructed in 1655-1659 for the retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo (後水尾天皇; reigned 1611-1629). It is situated at the foothills of the Higashiyama mountains, with a view of Mt Hiei. The surrounding scenery was incorporated into the design of Shugakuin's gardens, making them some of the best examples of shakkei.
There are three villas at different altitudes: the Lower Villa (more here), Middle Villa (more here) and Upper Villa (more here). Each have their own garden.
According to the guide, there are several unique stone lanterns in the garden of the Lower Villa (下御茶屋) - and indeed, around Shugakuin in general. So, along the pathway through the Lower Villa, there was the first one - with gaping rectangular windows - called the Chosendoro (朝鮮灯籠), or the "Korean Lantern".
Through the garden in the Lower Villa runs a stream, which runs from Mt Hiei. It is said that Emperor Go-Mizunoo would sometimes stroll in the garden and gaze out to the rice fields lying beyond it.
I saw the other stone lantern, the Yaguragata-toro (櫓形灯籠), a lantern shaped like a castle tower (yagura). There are another 2 unique stone lanterns, the Sodegata-doro (袖形灯籠), "sleeve lantern", and the Wanikuchi-doro (鰐口燈籠) , "crocodile mouth lantern". But I missed them both.
The only building left in the Lower Villa is the Jugetsukan (寿月観), where Emperor Go-Mizunoo would rest before proceeding to the Upper Villa (which is some 40m higher than the Lower Villa). I vaguely caught something about there being two other buildings in the past, but the rapid-fire Japanese spoken by the guide was a bit too much for me to follow. And the English audio guide said nothing on that.
In the ichinoma of the Jugetsukan are 15 tatami mats, 2 tokonoma and decorative shelves. Of the tatami mats, 3 were raised at a corner, and was where Go-Mizunoo would sit.
The fusama doors of the ichinoma feature a painting, Kokei Sansho (「虎渓三笑」), by renowned late Edo era artist Ganku (岸駒; 1749-1839), who was the founder of the Kishi school. The Kokei Sansho ("Three Laughs at Tiger Brook") references the Chinese proverb concerning Confucianist poet Tao Yuanming, Taoist recluse Lu Xiujing and Buddhist monk Huiyuan. Huiyuan lived in his temple on Lushan (Jiangsu, China), and had never gone further than Tiger Brook, which bordered his temple grounds. Tao and Lu visited him. The 3 were so absorbed in their conversation together that Huiyuan inadvertently crossed Tiger Brook. On realising this, they began to laugh, realising that their folly in allowing dogmatic differences had keep them apart.
The ninoma of the Jugetsukan contained 12 tatami mats and a painted cedarwood fusama door. There is also a third room, the sannoma, which has 5 tatami mats and functioned as a waiting room for Go-Mizunoo's attendants.
The tour route from the Lower Villa is through a pine tree lined path (松並木), which connects the Lower and Upper Villas.
On both sides of the pine-lined path, we can see the surrounding hills as well as the farmlands. According to the guide, the Imperial Household Agency acquired the surrounding lands around 1964, and leased it to local farmers.
The garden in the Middle Villa features a pond that apparently predates the garden.
The 2 principal buildings in the Middle Villa are the Rakushiken and the Kyakuden.
The Kyakuden (客殿) was formerly located at the Nyoin Palace for Tofukumon'in (東福門院; 1607-1678), the empress consort (中宮; chugu) of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Tofukumon'in was the name that she had taken on Go-Mizunoo's retirement. Prior to that, she was named Tokugawa Masako (徳川 和子), and she was the daughter of the 2nd Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada.
Later, in 1682, the Kyakuden was relocated to Shugakuin as a residence for Akenomiya Teruko (光子内親王; 1634-1727), the daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. (She later became a Buddhist nun.)
The cedarwood doors of the Kyakuden feature carps in net (below), and the hoko floats used in the Gion Matsuri, an iconic Kyoto festival. (If there is any matsuri that is synonymous with Kyoto, it would be the Gion Matsuri.) Hubby and I have been to the Gion Matsuri, in the summer of 2015, and we did see some of the giant hoko used, at least before we fled because of the torrential rain courtesy of Typhoon Nangka.
There are 2 rooms in the Kyakuden, the ichinoma and ninoma (literally, 1st room and 2nd room respectively). The ichinoma of the Kyakuden features the celebrated Kasumidana (霞棚; literally, "Mist Shelf") a 5-panneled shelf made of zelkova wood, and designed to resemble a hanging mist, in stylised form of course.
The 2nd room, the ninoma, is very simple compared to the ichinoma.
The 2nd building in the Middle Villa is the Rakushiken (楽只軒), which was believed to be built in 1668 for Akenomiya Teruko.
Compared to the Kyakuden, the Rakushiken was very simple, almost plain, but also very elegant.
Last, we made our way to the Upper Villa. We had to climb a steep flight of stone steps to the Upper Villa which was flanked by tall trees. But when we got to the top, we were rewarded with the view of the Rinuntei (隣雲亭) and Shugakuin's best feature, the Upper Garden.
Beyond the tree-lined curving nishihama (西浜) is a stunning view of the distant mountains. According to our guide, the centre of Kyoto stretches to the left, and the Nishiyama mountain range lies beyond it.
The view from the nishihama towards the garden (pictures below) is of the garden against the foothills of the Higashiyama - also a stunning backdrop. It's no wonder that the Upper Gardens is considered one of the best examples of shakkei.
The Upper Garden is centred around a large pond, the Yokuryuchi (浴龍池), which was apparently created by damming a nearby mountain stream. There are 2 islands, Nakajima (中島) and Bansho'u (万松塢).
The Chitosebashi (千歳橋; literally "thousand year bridge) connects the two islands in the Yokuryuchi. It is an interesting yakata bridge (屋形橋) that was supposedly added after Shugakuin was refurbished in 1824. The bridge consists of 2 stone abutments connected by a stone walkway. Each abutment is covered by a wooden pavilion with a cypress bark roof. One of the pavilions (the right one in the above picture) is topped with a copper Chinese phoenix.
I read in some Japanese article, as well as the Wikipedia Japanese page on Shugakuin, that the Chitosebashi was a subsequent addition to Shugakuin. Well, that is, if I read them correctly...I had to do a lot of dictionary referencing and guesswork based on my limited ability with kanji characters. What I gathered was that the villa was refurbished in 1824. And after its refurbishment, the stone abutments were donated by Naito Nobuatsu (内藤 信敦; 1777-1825), the then daimyo of the Murakami Domain and the 39th Kyoto Shoshidai (京都所司代). And later, in 1827, the yakata was donated by Mizuno Tadakuni (水野 忠邦; 1794-1851), the then daimyo of the Hamamatsu Domain (and later Roju to Tokugawa Ienari, the 11th Tokugawa shogun).
The 2nd bridge is the wooden Kaedebashi which connects us to the island in the pond, and the Kyusuitei, which is the 2nd building in the Upper Villa. It is framed by maple trees, but it was already past peak autumn here at Shugakuin (being at a slightly higher altitude), and the trees were quite bare.
At the end of the Kaedebashi, we got to the Kyusuitei (窮邃亭), a teahouse that is located at the highest point of the island in the middle of the Yokuryuchi. According to our guide, this is the only building that stands as it was when Shugakuin was originally built. The L-shaped raised dais was where Emperor Go-Mizunoo would sit and look out into the Upper Garden.
The Upper Garden is one of the best examples of the Edo period stroll garden (kaiyu-shiki-teien). The Yokuryuchi was a place where Japanese courtiers had their gatherings, floating on the pond in boats as they played/composed music and recited/composed poetry.
Our guide informed us that the island Bansho'u is supposed to resemble a swimming dragon. I confess no matter how I look, I don't quite see it...unless...perhaps it's the dragon's curved back as it glides back down into the waters? To the left is the boat landing, where the boats taking the courtiers around the pond would be moored.
Met a lovely French lady from the south of France, and talked about various things (PRC tourists, politics, Trump, how much we love Japan, inter alia...). So I confess that I missed taking a few more very beautiful landscape / scenery shots as we passed through the nishihama and the Okarikomi.
Overall, Hubby and I really enjoyed the Shugakuin tour and I think if we had the chance, we would go again in autumn! Even though it was past peak autumn on this visit, it was still beautiful, and very tranquil.
I think the tranquility stems from the fact that it is a little further from the beaten track, and the Imperial Household Agency only takes a small group for each tour, unlike the Tokyo Imperial Palace tour. I think the pace was also a little more relaxing because Shugakuin is not a very large property, but it really depends on which security personnel you get.
Oh...how I want to go again, when autumn is at its peak!
 |
| View of the Momijidani and Mihogashima, Upper Villa |
Shugakuin Imperial Villa (修学院離宮) was constructed in 1655-1659 for the retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo (後水尾天皇; reigned 1611-1629). It is situated at the foothills of the Higashiyama mountains, with a view of Mt Hiei. The surrounding scenery was incorporated into the design of Shugakuin's gardens, making them some of the best examples of shakkei.
There are three villas at different altitudes: the Lower Villa (more here), Middle Villa (more here) and Upper Villa (more here). Each have their own garden.
The Lower Villa
 |
| The Lower Villa; by the pathway is the Chosendoro |
According to the guide, there are several unique stone lanterns in the garden of the Lower Villa (下御茶屋) - and indeed, around Shugakuin in general. So, along the pathway through the Lower Villa, there was the first one - with gaping rectangular windows - called the Chosendoro (朝鮮灯籠), or the "Korean Lantern".
 |
| The Lower Garden, Lower Villa |
Through the garden in the Lower Villa runs a stream, which runs from Mt Hiei. It is said that Emperor Go-Mizunoo would sometimes stroll in the garden and gaze out to the rice fields lying beyond it.
I saw the other stone lantern, the Yaguragata-toro (櫓形灯籠), a lantern shaped like a castle tower (yagura). There are another 2 unique stone lanterns, the Sodegata-doro (袖形灯籠), "sleeve lantern", and the Wanikuchi-doro (鰐口燈籠) , "crocodile mouth lantern". But I missed them both.
The only building left in the Lower Villa is the Jugetsukan (寿月観), where Emperor Go-Mizunoo would rest before proceeding to the Upper Villa (which is some 40m higher than the Lower Villa). I vaguely caught something about there being two other buildings in the past, but the rapid-fire Japanese spoken by the guide was a bit too much for me to follow. And the English audio guide said nothing on that.
 |
| The ichinoma of the Jugetsukan, Lower Villa |
In the ichinoma of the Jugetsukan are 15 tatami mats, 2 tokonoma and decorative shelves. Of the tatami mats, 3 were raised at a corner, and was where Go-Mizunoo would sit.
The fusama doors of the ichinoma feature a painting, Kokei Sansho (「虎渓三笑」), by renowned late Edo era artist Ganku (岸駒; 1749-1839), who was the founder of the Kishi school. The Kokei Sansho ("Three Laughs at Tiger Brook") references the Chinese proverb concerning Confucianist poet Tao Yuanming, Taoist recluse Lu Xiujing and Buddhist monk Huiyuan. Huiyuan lived in his temple on Lushan (Jiangsu, China), and had never gone further than Tiger Brook, which bordered his temple grounds. Tao and Lu visited him. The 3 were so absorbed in their conversation together that Huiyuan inadvertently crossed Tiger Brook. On realising this, they began to laugh, realising that their folly in allowing dogmatic differences had keep them apart.
 |
| The ninoma of the Jugetsukan, Lower Villa |
The ninoma of the Jugetsukan contained 12 tatami mats and a painted cedarwood fusama door. There is also a third room, the sannoma, which has 5 tatami mats and functioned as a waiting room for Go-Mizunoo's attendants.
 |
| The pine-lined path |
The tour route from the Lower Villa is through a pine tree lined path (松並木), which connects the Lower and Upper Villas.
 |
| Farmland around the pine-lined path |
On both sides of the pine-lined path, we can see the surrounding hills as well as the farmlands. According to the guide, the Imperial Household Agency acquired the surrounding lands around 1964, and leased it to local farmers.
The Middle Villa
The garden in the Middle Villa features a pond that apparently predates the garden.
 |
| The Middle Garden |
 |
| The Middle Garden |
 |
| The Middle Garden |
The 2 principal buildings in the Middle Villa are the Rakushiken and the Kyakuden.
 |
| The Kyakuden, Middle Villa |
The Kyakuden (客殿) was formerly located at the Nyoin Palace for Tofukumon'in (東福門院; 1607-1678), the empress consort (中宮; chugu) of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Tofukumon'in was the name that she had taken on Go-Mizunoo's retirement. Prior to that, she was named Tokugawa Masako (徳川 和子), and she was the daughter of the 2nd Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada.
Later, in 1682, the Kyakuden was relocated to Shugakuin as a residence for Akenomiya Teruko (光子内親王; 1634-1727), the daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. (She later became a Buddhist nun.)
 |
| Japanese cedarwood door depicting hoko used in the Gion Matsuri, the Kyakyden |
The cedarwood doors of the Kyakuden feature carps in net (below), and the hoko floats used in the Gion Matsuri, an iconic Kyoto festival. (If there is any matsuri that is synonymous with Kyoto, it would be the Gion Matsuri.) Hubby and I have been to the Gion Matsuri, in the summer of 2015, and we did see some of the giant hoko used, at least before we fled because of the torrential rain courtesy of Typhoon Nangka.
 |
| The ichinoma of the Kyakuden, Middle Villa |
There are 2 rooms in the Kyakuden, the ichinoma and ninoma (literally, 1st room and 2nd room respectively). The ichinoma of the Kyakuden features the celebrated Kasumidana (霞棚; literally, "Mist Shelf") a 5-panneled shelf made of zelkova wood, and designed to resemble a hanging mist, in stylised form of course.
 |
| The ninoma of the Kyakuden, Middle Villa |
The 2nd room, the ninoma, is very simple compared to the ichinoma.
 |
| The Rakushiken, Middle Villa |
The 2nd building in the Middle Villa is the Rakushiken (楽只軒), which was believed to be built in 1668 for Akenomiya Teruko.
 |
| The Rakushiken, Middle Villa |
Compared to the Kyakuden, the Rakushiken was very simple, almost plain, but also very elegant.
The Upper Villa
Last, we made our way to the Upper Villa. We had to climb a steep flight of stone steps to the Upper Villa which was flanked by tall trees. But when we got to the top, we were rewarded with the view of the Rinuntei (隣雲亭) and Shugakuin's best feature, the Upper Garden.
 |
| View of the Upper Garden from the Rinuntei, Upper Villa |
Beyond the tree-lined curving nishihama (西浜) is a stunning view of the distant mountains. According to our guide, the centre of Kyoto stretches to the left, and the Nishiyama mountain range lies beyond it.
The view from the nishihama towards the garden (pictures below) is of the garden against the foothills of the Higashiyama - also a stunning backdrop. It's no wonder that the Upper Gardens is considered one of the best examples of shakkei.
The Upper Garden is centred around a large pond, the Yokuryuchi (浴龍池), which was apparently created by damming a nearby mountain stream. There are 2 islands, Nakajima (中島) and Bansho'u (万松塢).
 |
| The Chitosebashi, Upper Villa |
The Chitosebashi (千歳橋; literally "thousand year bridge) connects the two islands in the Yokuryuchi. It is an interesting yakata bridge (屋形橋) that was supposedly added after Shugakuin was refurbished in 1824. The bridge consists of 2 stone abutments connected by a stone walkway. Each abutment is covered by a wooden pavilion with a cypress bark roof. One of the pavilions (the right one in the above picture) is topped with a copper Chinese phoenix.
I read in some Japanese article, as well as the Wikipedia Japanese page on Shugakuin, that the Chitosebashi was a subsequent addition to Shugakuin. Well, that is, if I read them correctly...I had to do a lot of dictionary referencing and guesswork based on my limited ability with kanji characters. What I gathered was that the villa was refurbished in 1824. And after its refurbishment, the stone abutments were donated by Naito Nobuatsu (内藤 信敦; 1777-1825), the then daimyo of the Murakami Domain and the 39th Kyoto Shoshidai (京都所司代). And later, in 1827, the yakata was donated by Mizuno Tadakuni (水野 忠邦; 1794-1851), the then daimyo of the Hamamatsu Domain (and later Roju to Tokugawa Ienari, the 11th Tokugawa shogun).
 |
| The Kaedebashi, Upper Villa |
The 2nd bridge is the wooden Kaedebashi which connects us to the island in the pond, and the Kyusuitei, which is the 2nd building in the Upper Villa. It is framed by maple trees, but it was already past peak autumn here at Shugakuin (being at a slightly higher altitude), and the trees were quite bare.
 |
| The Kyusuitei, Upper Villa |
At the end of the Kaedebashi, we got to the Kyusuitei (窮邃亭), a teahouse that is located at the highest point of the island in the middle of the Yokuryuchi. According to our guide, this is the only building that stands as it was when Shugakuin was originally built. The L-shaped raised dais was where Emperor Go-Mizunoo would sit and look out into the Upper Garden.
The Upper Garden is one of the best examples of the Edo period stroll garden (kaiyu-shiki-teien). The Yokuryuchi was a place where Japanese courtiers had their gatherings, floating on the pond in boats as they played/composed music and recited/composed poetry.
 |
| View of the boat landing (left) and Bansho'u, Upper Villa |
Our guide informed us that the island Bansho'u is supposed to resemble a swimming dragon. I confess no matter how I look, I don't quite see it...unless...perhaps it's the dragon's curved back as it glides back down into the waters? To the left is the boat landing, where the boats taking the courtiers around the pond would be moored.
 |
| The Upper Garden |
Met a lovely French lady from the south of France, and talked about various things (PRC tourists, politics, Trump, how much we love Japan, inter alia...). So I confess that I missed taking a few more very beautiful landscape / scenery shots as we passed through the nishihama and the Okarikomi.
Overall, Hubby and I really enjoyed the Shugakuin tour and I think if we had the chance, we would go again in autumn! Even though it was past peak autumn on this visit, it was still beautiful, and very tranquil.
I think the tranquility stems from the fact that it is a little further from the beaten track, and the Imperial Household Agency only takes a small group for each tour, unlike the Tokyo Imperial Palace tour. I think the pace was also a little more relaxing because Shugakuin is not a very large property, but it really depends on which security personnel you get.
Oh...how I want to go again, when autumn is at its peak!
*******
More on Elizabeth's Japanese Autumn, November 2016
- I. Yokohama & the Miho Museum - Chinatown (Heichinrou, Yokohama Mazu Temple) ● Yamashita Park ● Zou-no-Hana ● Osanbashi Pier ● Yokohama Red Brick Warehouses ● Miho Museum
- II. Kyoto - Tofukuji ● Kiyomizudera ● Sohonzan Komyoji ● Eikando Zenrinji ● Manshuin Monzeki ● Iwakura Jissoin Monzeki ● Nanzenji, Nanzenin & Tenjuan ● Kitano Tenmangu ● Shugakuin Imperial Villa ● Sento Imperial Palace ● Kyoto Imperial Palace
- III. Tokyo - Tokyo University ● Rikugien ● Tokyo Imperial Palace & the East Gardens ● Kotonoha no Niwa trip to at Shinjuku Gyoen ● Italian at Salvatore Cuomo Bros., XEX Tokyo ● Sushi Masuda ● Nishiazabu Taku (aka Sushi Taku) ● Sushi Nakamura (1st taste of Juyondai) ● Sushi Tokami (1st taste of tossaki) ● molecular gastronomy at Tapas Molecular Bar ● French-Japanese at La Paix, Nihonbashi
- IV: Fuji Five Lakes - Part 1 (Bessho Sasa, revisited) ● Part 2 (Fuji Subaru 5th Station, Motosuko & Koyodai) ● Part 3 (Fujisansaku Park, Motosuko, Shojiko, Saiko, Kawaguchiko)
*******
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