Kyoto. John H. Martin
the late 1800s the Nanzen-ji temple sold off some of its land, a result of economic necessity under the punitive attitude toward Buddhist temples taken by the government. Some of the land was purchased by Yamagata, a Meiji statesman and Prime Minister from 1889 to 1891. The villa was begun in 1894, but its construction was interrupted by Yamagata’s absence from Kyoto during the Sino-Japanese War. On his return, the villa was completed in 1896. The garden, finished in 1898, was designed by Yamagata and created with the assistance of Ogawa Jihei (1860–1932), one of Kyoto’s most famous garden designers; it is a comparatively modern one which varies from traditional garden planning guidelines by including unusual plants and an open lawn. The garden is in the shape of an elongated triangle about three-fourths of an acre (one-third of a hectare) in size, but it seems larger as it uses the device of borrowed scenery from the Higashiyama mountains visible in the distance. A stream runs through the gardens, its water coming from the nearby Lake Biwa through the Sosui Canal. Laid out on a slight slope, the water runs in three cascades into a pond and thence into the garden stream. A large rock is one of the important elements of the garden, so large that it had to be dragged into place by 20 oxen.
The villa is composed of three buildings, a traditional two-story main house and a two-story Western-style building. In the garden is a tea house modeled after an example of the Yabunounchi school of tea. As a Minister of State, Yamagata was involved not only in the Sino-Japanese War but in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 as well. Just before that latter conflict, the Murin-an Conference was held on the second floor of the Western building of the villa. Here, an aggressive Japanese foreign policy was determined upon by Prime Minister Taro Katsura, Foreign Minister Jutaro Komura, Hirobumi Ito, who led the Seikyu-kai political party, and Yamagata, who was a military man. Yamagata died in 1922, and in 1941 the Murin-an was given to the city of Kyoto which maintains it as a cultural asset for the public. The tea house is available for hire for private and public use as are the Japanese-style rooms of the main house.
The spacious Okazaki Park is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and its maple trees in autumn.
By 1933 a new note was added to the park when the Kyoto Municipal Art Museum was opened, and two years later the Butoku-den center for the traditional martial arts was brought to the west side of the Heian Shrine grounds. An exhibition hall had been developed as an addition to the growing complex, a multipurpose unit, and as with all such multiuse buildings, its acoustics were not satisfactory for concerts. In 1960, a proper theater for musical and related events found a new home in the Kyoto Kaikan (Kyoto Hall).
By 1963 a Museum of Modern Art was added to the complex, joined in 1976 by the Traditional Industry Museum and the Nichizu Design Center. The area was further enriched by the locating of the Kanze School of Noh in the Kanze Kaikan on Niomon-dori, a school whose beginnings go back to the 1300s, and then the Fujii Art Museum settled here as well. In 1989 the Kyoto International Community Center made its appearance not too far from this cultural agglomeration, providing for diversified cultural offerings.
KYOTO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CENTER (KYOTO KOKUSAI KORYU KAIKAN) A short walk from the Murin-an brings one to the Kyoto International Community Center, where programs of interest are available to both local residents and visitors. As its name implies, it is meant to serve the growing international community in Kyoto and to provide educational and cultural activities on Japanese and international topics. A varied program is offered, and schedules of events may be obtained from the center. Activities are also listed in the English language tourist publications available in Kyoto. The building houses a library, meeting rooms, computer and video terminals and an intimate stage for dramatic productions, poetry readings, lectures, recitals and other educational and cultural activities.
Returning along Sanjo-dori or Niomon-dori to Jingu-michi-dori, a turn to the right on Jingu-michi-dori brings you to the Okazaki Park Cultural Center. Performances or exhibitions at the museums or halls below are listed in the English language newspapers and in the listing of events distributed by the Tourist Information Center and the City Tourist Office, available at most hotels and the Information Centers. Bus 5 or 32 will leave one at the Kyoto Kaikan Bijutsukan-mae bus stop for any of the places below.
OKAZAKI PARK (OKAZAKI KOEN) This park was opened in 1904 and consists of 21 acres (8.7 hectares) along the Sosui Canal that brings water to Kyoto from Lake Biwa on the other side of the Higashiyama mountain range. In the spring the cherry blossoms and in the fall the maple leaves of the trees in the park and in the zoo make the area a colorful and delightful place.
FUJII MUSEUM (FUJII SAISEKAI YURINKAN) The Fujii Museum is off Niomon-dori on the south side of the street before the entrance to Okazaki; the entry to the building is at the rear. The Fujii Museum is a private museum dedicated to Chinese art. It is open from noon to 3:00 p.m. on the first and third Sunday of each month, but it is closed in January and August. The museum will be opened upon a written request submitted a week in advance of the requested visit. No entry fee is charged but a contribution is welcomed. The museum’s holdings range from early bronzes through ceramics, paintings, jade, porcelains, furniture, costumes and other aspects of the art of China. Its paintings are primarily from the Ming and Ching eras. Some bronzes from India and early mirrors of Japanese provenance are held as well.
KANZE KAIKAN NOH THEATER The Kanze Kaikan hall, on the south side of Niomon-dori and west of Jingo-michi-dori, is a center for theater performances of traditional Noh and Kyogen. The Kanze School of Noh is one of five schools of Noh acting, and it was begun by Kan-ami (1333–84) and then developed by his son Ze-ami (1363–1443).
KYOTO MUNICIPAL ART MUSEUM (KYOTO-SHI BIJUTSUKAN) The Municipal Art Museum, opened in 1933, lies on the eastern side of Jingu-michi-dori, the north– south street in the middle of the Okazaki cultural area with the huge vermilion concrete torii across it. It is the first building on the east side of Jingu-michi-dori after Niomondori. The museum’s holdings are primarily in 19th (post-1868) and 20th century Japanese and Western paintings, sculpture and handicrafts. Aside from showing portions of its own collections, the halls are used for traveling or loan exhibitions as well as the work of local artists. It is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except on Mondays or from December 25 to January 3. The museum is open on Mondays when that day is a national holiday, but it is then closed the next day. Admission ranges from free to a charge of varying levels depending on the exhibition being shown.
KYOTO PREFECTUAL PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Kyoto Public Library, opposite the Municipal Art Museum, was first opened in 1872 and, along with the Tokyo Public Library, is the oldest such institution in Japan. The monument in front of the library is of Gottfried Wagner, a German who was brought to Kyoto in 1878 to help in introducing new techniques in ceramic making and in the dyeing of fabrics.
KYOTO NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (KYOTO KOKURITSU KINDAI BIJUTSUKAN) Established in 1963 and rebuilt in 1986, the four-story museum designed by Fumihiko Maki is on the west side of Jingu-michi-dori just north of Niomon-dori. The museum has an extensive collection of contemporary Japanese prints, paintings, sculpture, ceramics, lacquer work and other crafts. It is particularly rich in the ceramic artistry of Kawai Kanjiro as well as works of Hamada Shoji.
In addition, the museum collects modern art from throughout the world, and its photographic collection, based on the Arnold Gilbert collection of Chicago from the late 19th century, is notable. The large and spacious halls of this modern building are used to mount major exhibitions from Japan and abroad. A small book counter and coffee shop are on the main floor. The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (until 7:30 p.m. on Fridays) except for Monday and the New Year holiday. It is open on Monday if that day is a national holiday but then closed the next day. Entry fee.
KANGYO KAIKAN (PUBLIC EXHIBITION HALL) The Public Exhibition Hall, on Nijodori to the west of Jing-michi-dori, holds exhibitions of a commercial, educational or cultural nature.
KYOTO MUSEUM OF TRADITIONAL INDUSTRY AND THE NICHIZU DESIGN CENTER The Museum of Traditional Industry, which opened in 1976, is located in Okazaki Park at Nijo-dori. The museum exhibits and offers demonstrations of the making of those traditional crafts for which Kyoto has always been famous. These include silk, bamboo, lacquer and paper works, ceramics, damascene, traditional