After checking into the Palace Side Hotel, we headed back to the surrounding neighborhoods of Kiyomizu-dera, which has been a active religious area for several years. Our area of focus was the place that started it all for the Japanese culture through the medium of architecture. Ginkakuji "Silver Pavillion" was officially named Jishō-ji, which means "Temple of Shining Mercy". In the late 1400s Ashikaga Yoshimasa was the founder of the temple and ordered it to be built to imitate the Kinkaku-Ji “Golden Pavillion” that was ordered by his father. The temple was to be wrapped in silver, hence the name "Silver Pavillion", but due to minor setbacks, the project could not be completed. The site of the Silver Pavillion consists of both built objects and nature. The main hall and the Pavillion seem to frame different parts of the gardens within the space. What seemed very interesting was the way the sand was treated in certain areas of the garden. The grooves in the sand appeared to be much deeper than the other gardens we have experienced and in the middle of the gardens, there is a moment where portions of the sand are raised to about 2’ and then the same depth of grooves is repeated. Though it could not be completed, the temple still exudes beauty to this day, by revealing it's underlying structure and form.
Following our visit to the silver pavilion we went for a walk down the philosophers path. The path was full of cherry trees although there were no blossoms. There were many little shops that we stopped at along the way including a gallery that had beautiful print works as well as a shop that was all about cats! Along the path we stopped at a small café like establishment where we all had variations of powdered green tea and desserts.
Photo by Kirsten
green tea K.N
After tea, we caught a few cabs and headed to the Kyoto Craft Museum for our next venture. There, we learned the history of the Japan’s amazing artifacts. Everything from Kimono making to stone and lacquer wear was displayed in the exhibit. The museum housed beautiful pieces of Japanese craft that couldn’t be duplicated to the same standard anywhere else.
Korean food K.N.
When we left the museum our last stop was the Takishimaya mall for dinner.For today’s meal we switched it up and dined at a Korean restaurant. The food was quite different from what we had previously tasted in Japan, and each dish had a vivid range of flavors that was enjoyable for all of us.
Photos by and Written by Chelsea Cole & Kirsten Hill