Kyoto Imperial Villas & Gardens - Part 2

Next it was back in the car and off to Shugakuin Imperial Villa, another stunning compound. Shugakuin is much larger than Katsura and contains three seperate villas with thier attendant gardens, linked together by walkways through paddy fields. Very much designed on the grand scale to incorporate the wider environment and blend harmoniously with the surrounding forested hills and mountains, chief among them Mt Hiei. This contrasting of multiple layers from distant mountains to the gardens is called shakkei and Shugakuin is considered magnificent in this regard. It consists of lower, middle and upper Villas each with their own garden and was built in 1655-59 for the retired Emperor Gomizuno’o.

If this grandeur and Katsura's intimacy was not enough for one day we rounded out the adventure with a visit to the Zen Buddhist Temple of Shisendo; classic zen gardens and small temple set on a mountain hillside.

All in all a stunning day with sights I feel privileged to have seen and photographed. I was the only westerner at most of these places and the tour groups relatively small.

We ended a perfect day in the perfect way with a meal at Kyoto's best Tempura restaurant.

Just brilliant!Read more