The video was shot at Komyo-in in South-East Kyoto, a subtemple of Tofuku-ji, one of the most important Zen temples in the city. Komyo-in was founded in 1391 and rebuilt in 1911. Mirei Shigemori was asked to design its garden in 1939.
A deeply cultured man, Shigemori (1896-1975) was a multi-faceted designer with an interest in painting and in ikebana. He wrote a 26-volume history of the Japanese garden after having surveyed all the significant gardens in the country. He designed more than 200 gardens himself and his most famous creation is in the Tofuku-ji. Komyo-in is significant in being the first major garden he designed. Here he created a dry rock garden, or karesansui, his preferred kind of garden, which consists of rock and gravel compositions.
As Yuri-san explains, the garden is named Hashintei, after a Zen saying [‘雲ハ嶺上ニ生ズルコトナク、月ハ波心ニ落ツルコト有リ’; kumo ha reijo ni shozurukoto naku tsuki ha hashin ni otsurukoto ari]. The name of the temple, Komyo-in, means ‘Bright Light’. Shigemori also designed the tea house above the garden. It represents a full moon rising from the clouds and is called Ragetsu-an. The meaning of Ragetsu can be read as ‘the moon illuminating the ivy’. The full moon, a perfect circular shape, is a symbol of enlightenment in Buddhism.
The hanging scroll shown towards the end of the video is the work of Shigemori, his calligraphy evoking the Zen saying mentioned above.
Yuri-san tells us that a deep knowledge of different aspects of traditional Japanese culture is required. She mentions Zen, the tea ceremony, painting and waka, a traditional form of poetry that developed in aristocratic circles from the Heian period (794-1185) and became a very significant source of inspiration in art and design. Zen, which literally means ‘meditation’, is a Buddhist sect that stresses self-discipline through the practice of meditation. It was introduced in Japan in the 13th century and became a powerful stimulus to the arts. In Zen temples the garden would become an object of meditation; it cannot be entered but instead is viewed from a veranda.
In visiting the garden with Yuri-san, I found emotion, science, art and philosophy intertwined. Of modest size, Komyo-in is often blissfully quiet compared to other, more famous Kyoto gardens. Its head priest has a deep understanding of art and welcomes a few art events during the year.
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On this video Israel Goldman and Sophie looked at works by the following artists:
Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864)
Ichikawa Ebizo V (Ichikawa Danjuro VII)
From an untitled series of large head actor prints
1863
Oban
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
Ipitsu gafu (Album of Drawings with One Stroke of the Brush)
1823
I