Kyoto. John H. Martin
ochaya that remain. As a center of the geisha quarters, it was loved by the poet Isamu Yoshii (1886– 1960), and one of his poems has been inscribed on a stone in this area:
No matter what they say,
I love Gion.
Even in my sleep
The sound of water
Flows beneath my pillow.
On November 8 at 11 a.m., geisha and maiko perform a tea ceremony at the stone monument that records Isamu Yoshii’s affection for Gion and its traditional delights— delights the geisha continue to maintain.
Continuing south to Shijo-dori, a turn to the left leads back to the Yasaka Shrine at Higashi-oji-dori where a bus or a taxi can be obtained at the conclusion of this walk.
GETTING THERE
This is a loop walk. The sites on the tour are all in central Kyoto or within easy walking distance from it. The tour starts and ends at Yasaka Shrine, which is situated at the intersection of Shijo-dori and Higashi-oji-dori. It can be reached by walking or by bus 206 or 207 to the Gion bus stop. The Gion area is pleasant to visit at any time, particularly during the cherry blossom season in April or at the time of the Gion Festival in July.
Walking Tour 6
HEIAN SHRINE AREA
Imperial Palaces, Art and Crafts Museums and Heian Shrine
1 Shoren-in (Awata Palace) 青蓮院門跡（粟田御所）
2 Okazaki Park Cultural Center 岡崎公園（文化芸術エリア）
3 Murin-an Villa 無鄰菴
4 Heian Shrine 平安神宮
5 Kuro-dani (Black Ravine Temple) 金戒光明寺（黒谷）
6 Chion-ji (Million Times Temple) 知恩寺
Jingu-michi-dori, which is central to this walk, provides everything from museums to a zoo to a concert hall to a center for the martial arts. It also has a shrine and a temple, both of which once served as palaces. One would think that a temple was a temple while a palace was a palace, but this not always true in Kyoto. The Imperial Palace had a periodic propensity for being destroyed by fire and, from time to time, the Emperor and his court had to find temporary refuge while the palace was rebuilt. Such refuge could be found in a temple that was temporarily sequestered by the court, and, on more than one occasion, the Shoren-in Temple was so honored. As a result, the temple has enjoyed not only Imperial favor but has been modified to suit Imperial tastes and still preserves some of the splendor with which the court endowed it.
That portion of Jingu-michi-dori on which the Shoren-in (or Awata Palace as it is also known) is located leads north to the cultural center that has developed as Okazaki Park in the past 100 years. At the north end of this street, beyond a gigantic torii that crosses the road, is another palace, this one being a memorial to the Imperial Palace of early Kyoto rather than a residence for royalty. The Imperial Palace of the late 700s has long since been destroyed by fire, and its original location was abandoned by the court centuries ago. At the end of the 1800s, on the occasion of the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of the capital at Kyoto, a portion of the original palace was reconstructed in two-thirds scale as a shrine to the Emperor Kammu who had established Kyoto as Japan’s capital and who had the first Imperial palace built in the city. Thus, the Heian Shrine at the end of Jingu-michi-dori today provides an idea of what the early palace looked like and also serves as a shrine to the spirit of the first and the last Emperors to reside in Kyoto as the capital of the nation. More noteworthy than the building, however, is the lovely garden behind it and to its side. Between the temple/palace of the Shoren-in and the partially reconstructed palace of Heian times (794– 1200) lies the Okazaki Cultural Center. Here one can find the museums of contemporary art, of the traditional arts and crafts, and of general art, as well as the one of the first public libraries in Japan. A cultural hall for musical events and additional private museums border the area as does the Hall of Martial Arts, a unit which was once part of the early palace and today continues the martial arts tradition still enjoyed by many Japanese. Even the Kyoto Zoo can be found in the Okazaki Park, and here occurs the annual fireman’s display of their skills and derringdo at the beginning of each year.
1 SHOREN-IN (AWATA PALACE)
The Shoren-in (Awata Palace) is on Jingumichi-dori, the street that runs south from the Heian Shrine to Maruyama Park. (Buses 11, 12, 18, 202, 203, 206 or 207 take you to the Chion-in-mae bus stop from which you walk east to Jingu-michi-dori (in front of Chion-in) and then turn left (north) to the Shoren-in. Alternatively, you can take bus 5 to the Jingomichi-dori bus stop and then walk south on Jingu-michi-dori to the temple. The Shoren-in is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; it is closed on October 4th. Entry fee.
A view of the Ko Gosho (Small Palace) from the garden at Shoren-in.
An exquisite former palace of the monzeki (Imperial) prince abbots, as well as the sometime residence of the Imperial ruler when the Imperial Palace burned, Shoren-in has a lovely Muromachi period (1334–1568) garden created about a pond. The site has been a Tendai sect temple for centuries and has had to serve as an Imperial palace as well from time to time. The temple had its beginnings as a city residence for Buddhist priests from the great Tendai monastery of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei. Priests from the Enryaku-ji often came to Kyoto in the 800s and thereafter to lecture, teach, hold memorial services for the dead or pray for the prosperity of individual aristocratic families as requested by these members of the nobility. Thus a need for housing for such priests on these occasions became a necessity and, as a result, the Juraku-in Temple was created at the site of the future Shoren-in to house the priests from the mountain monastery.
In 879, the Emperor Seiwa retired, and he built a detached palace, the Awata Palace, on the grounds of the Juraku-in, becoming a priest in the temple, a practice which was to become a normal procedure for many future retired emperors. The present Shoren-in temple was founded in 1144, and in 1153 the Emperor Toba ordered new buildings constructed. Two years later, the Emperor’s seventh son, Prince Kakukai (1134–81), became the head priest and second abbot of the Shoren-in. Thus began a tradition of being a monzeki temple, that is, a temple whose abbot was a member of the Imperial family. This heritage lasted until 1868 when the monzeki tradition was broken by the new Meiji government as part of its anti-Buddhist program. In 1868, the prince abbots returned to secular life, and the tie to the Imperial family ended.
KO GOSHO After paying the entry fee at the booth, walk to the entrance to the right and remove your shoes before proceeding along the corridors to the two main buildings or the garden viewing room, which also serves as a tea room. A roofed corridor to the left of the entryway leads to a second corridor on the right to the Ko Gosho (Small Palace), a lovely little building with a veranda on three sides. The corridor leading ahead from the entry brings you to the Shinden, the large palace.
The Ko Gosho was originally a portion of the Imperial Palace, and the present tatami-matted building was moved to this site beside the Ryushin Ike (Dragon’s Heart Pond) at the request of Empress Go-Sakuramachi (1762–70) when the temple became her temporary palace. After her departure, the Ko Gosho served as the living quarters for the Imperial abbots. The Little Palace is separated into three tatami-matted rooms by its fusuma (sliding screens), and these are approached by way of a wood-floored veranda/corridor that can be separated from the rooms by movable shoji panels.
The Audience Room at the east end, nearest the pond, has a raised platform (jodan) on which the empress or prince abbot would be seated. Behind it is a tokonoma whose rear wall is decorated with flowers on a gold ground. To the right of the tokonoma are chigaidana (staggered shelves) with a painted tree as a background while birds are painted on the cupboard doors at the bottom of the chigaidana, the paintings being by Kano Motonobu (1476–1559). Two fusuma and two cedar doors separate this inner area of the Audience Room from the main portion of the tatami-matted