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Heesung Kim ............ _ - ·--- I N THE 1\ANKS ol th~ Katsura rapital. At that time, the tea but the pavilions and gardens create a River, south-west of Kyoto, is ceremony had become an important diversity of impressions which together 0 a cluster of huildin~~ in a ritual in Japan, in which one partook give a rich effect. Each pavilion, garden ~etting considered to be one of of tea and appreciated the aesthetic with its unique character, is placed the finest examples of Japanesf" qualities or arti~tic merits of various around the pond and connecting paths architf"rture. lt was built in the early object~ of di~cusslon. The tea of the garden in whk:h various phases seventeenth century as a retreat for cNemony it~~lf originated in China of landscape are developed on a Prince Toshito, the younger brother of and was brought with the Zen miniature scale with changing views the Emperor as a collection of f\uddhists, but ev<'ntually it developed and surface textures: hills., rivers, residentia l quarters, tea hou~es, and a into a social ritual with tea houses fields, inlets, and beaches. lllere is temple amidst a man-made desi~ned solely for that purpose. diversity in the architecture and environment of hills and ponds ArdutN"turally, the austere soan style landscaping but the two are integrated covering almost fourteen acres. of the tea hou~es was incorporated - every detail down to the last Into the residential shoin style to ~tepping-stone was carefully chosen Pnnce Toshito, whose poetic genius dE-velop the suklya rukuri, or teah<>use and placed in its pr~r position. Tile and ae~thetic sensibility are well stylt-. 1t wn~ rharactcri;r:ed by flexible garden is considered to be the first documented, is believed to have room arran~cmcnts and natural stroll style executed in Japan, a ~upervist>d the construct ion until his material., ~uch .1~ clay walls and culmination of the styles and dt>ath in 1629. The second stage was bark-covt'red posts and tx-ams, .1nd was techniques of previous gardens. begun In 1642 by his son, Prin<-e .1doptcd from lhf" srventt-enth rcntury Noritada, nn<t completed in its present on as th~ predominant stylt' of The river bank side of the Villa is form. Japane~e domestic architecture. The fenced off by a unique hedge of dense ~ Kil to;ura Villa was one of the first bamboo trees, who~ stems are bent t Knt'lllra wa<~ chosen as the site for its examples of this, having been built downward and braided. At the west ~ beautiful view of the moon, often when the sukiya style itself was being side, the hedge becomes a f~e of re(err<'d to In the poetry of the de-veloped. large bamboo posts horizontally tied 1 lmpNia l court, as well as Its with twigs, and the doors of the front l proximity to Kyoto, then the Imperial Thc grouncls at Katsura are not vast, gatt- art- of polished bamboo. Tile j~-------------------------------- THE FIFTH COLUMN, Spring 1982 25 ---~ '·' ' IlL Shotn Complex second gate, Miyuki-mon (Imperial number of people in an informal has no ceiling except for the the Gate), was a later addition, erected gathering. The Middle Shoin is more ichi-no-ma, or first room, in about 1633 for the visit of the retired ornamented, and is thought to have tradition of farmhouses, with the left Empet"<X'. A square 1Jat stone outside been the living quarters of the Prince. ISlderside of the rush and bamboo the gate 5eried to rest the paJaquins These are the oldest buildings in the exposed. of the Emperors. The path to the complex. The New Goten was an third gate, Miyukl-michi (Imperial addition built to accomadate the The garden i~ clotted with several Path) is paved with cobblestones, with retired Emperor Gomizuno-o during his pavilion~. ac:res~ible by steppin~ stones an arched earthen bridge at the end. several visits to Katsura. lt differs and bridges or by boat. The Chu-mon, the third gate, leads into from the older parts in its palatial man-made landscape o r the garden is the complex. An ashlar pavement, the quality, with a three-mat raised floor dr.signed as a barkdrop for the steppmg stones of shin, which means section, or jodan, in one part of the architecttJre, and each c-lement is an rigidity, lead directly to the porch of tatami-floored rooms, the seat-of integral part or the overall theme the main house in a bed of moss. honour. lt is more decorated, possibly while retaining its characteristic to suit the tastes of th'! ex-Emperor, expre~sion. The garden path goes The main house is composed of three and the veranda is enclosed with shoji, clod<wi~e from the Mikuki Lane to the parts: the Old and Middle Shoin, and sliding wood lattice doors covered with cycas hillock, brant"hing from a t~ New Goten. These are arranged transluscent paper. straight path to the pond. In front of like a flight formation o( wild geese the cyca~ mound is a roofed bench for and oriented to avoid summer Beside the shoin complex is the with a lavatory, the waitng booth sunshine, to race t~ full moon in Geppa-ro (Moon-Over-The-Waves the tea ceremony at the Shokin-tei. autumn, and to catch the winter sun. Pavilion) which was intended for The path goes around the pond pa~t The Old Shoin is simple, with large viewing the reflection of the moon on 1\ma-no-ha~hidate, a symbolic ~. ten, and fift~-mat rooms. The the pond, as compared to the Old reprl'sentat•on of a famous scenic n•1mbcr of tatami mats (measuring Shoin, from which one viewed the sea,hor<-. Th<' path branches into a about three feet by six feet) signified rising moon. The rooms are arranged large o;tone bridge and a series of ~ area or the room. The rooms are around the service corner for stepping o;tones to the Manji-tei. This divided by slidmg wood-Jattke doors preparing food or tea, which has a pavilion io; on the top of a hill and covered with fusuma, an opaque paper, hearth and sl'l!lving. Autumn is the was intencled as a re<>ting place during with plain lintels and wooden slat themf>, with a view of the maple a stroll through thP woods. ThPre are ceilings. On the south side, facing hillock where the ll•aves turn red in four brnchc'> arrangPd in a manji, a the pond, is a veranda with a the fall. The shinp,ll!d roof of this swa~tika-like (orm, with a simple moon-viewing platform. Tt:1> Old Slloin pavilion gives it the air of a thatr.h<'d roof without wallo;. was probably ~ant to acl".omodate a nol>leman'5 n·treat, while thc- interior 26 THE FIFTH COLUMN, Spring 1982 Shok'in-tei The stone bridge is a single slab of the large island on which the nobility of that period, using natural granite twenty feet long supported by Shoka-tei and Enrin-do are located. materials and great care in four cornf'r-stones. This leads to the The Shoka-tei is at the top, a small composition. Designed to accomodate Shokin-tei, the principal structure in tea pavilion with views to the gardens the genteel past-times of the court, the garden. The exterior is in the of the villa and the mountains in the much of which was associated with style of a minka, the rustic houses of distance. lt is modelled after a the contemplation of some aspect of the common people, with deep countryside rest-booth and was nature, the pavilions and gardens are overhang~ on the thatched roof over intended for visitors during garden harmonious and complem!!ntary. thf' enrthen covered service area in tours. The Enrin-do is a small Unlike most palatial architecture in t he front. The interior on the other Buddhist temple, first dedicated to the Japan and throughout the Orient, it hand, ha~ the decorum of the classic soul of Prince Toshito by his son. lt has a be<tuty that arises not from the sf10ln style. This pavilion ha~ the only now enshrines mortuary tablets of the embclli~hment of artisans but •)n th<' authC'n tic ceremonia l tea-room in the Hachijo princes. lt has a tiled sensitive use of materiah with villa. The tea ceremonies hosted hy pyramidal roof with a Chinese-style i\ttention to detail and careful d<'~ign Prince Toshi to were undoubtedly held front gable. of the environment around. lt is al$0 he re, anr1 thus the Shokin- tei has· a appropriate as the country retreat of dual chnracter: the grand space for Across the pond from the island is the a princely family without real power; the entertainment of nobility and the Shoi-ken. Ken is a pavilion larger it has s<.>renity and quiet dignity that austere ~implicity of thf' tea room. than a tci. lt is designed as a replica no palatial villa could have matched. Thf' ld11 - no-ma and the Ni-no-ma of a farm-house, with its simple (First Room and St>cond Room) are that c hed hipped roof and low Note: the hotn complex i~ current!\ O(>('n ilnd spilcious, with unobstructeci projecting lean- tos. The Shoi-ken is undergotng a complete recon~tructim Vif'ws of thl.' garden.

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