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Near the waiting area where the tours of the Shugakuin Imperial Villa start
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Near the waiting area, this is the road we finished on
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Miyuki-mon, the gate to the lower villa
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Miyuki-mon, the flower shaped pattern is carved into the wood
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Miyuki-mon, top piece with moss growing on it
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A side path that we didn't follow
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The garden in front of Jugetsu-kan
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The kimono sleeve lantern (sodegata), also known as wanikuchi (crocodile mouth) in the garden in front of Jegetsu-kan
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The garden in front of Jugetsu-kan
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Interior of Jugetsu-kan, the tea pavillion where the emporer would rest before going to the upper villa
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Interior of Jugetsu-kan, the raised tatami mats are where the emporer would sit
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Closer look at the painted closet doors in Jugetsu-kan
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The garden in front of Jugetsu-kan
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Another lantern in the garden in front of Jugetsu-kan
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Interior of Jugetsu-kan
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Natural fencing
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The garden in front of Jugetsu-kan
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The gate leading out of the lower villa, into the fields and the paths up to the middle and upper villas
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Terraced garden fields, with Okarikomi (hedge with many species of evergreen shrubs and trees)
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The beginning of the pine lined aisle leading to the upper villa
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View from in front of the gate from the lower villa
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Pine aisle to the upper villa
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Pine aisle to the middle villa, our first stop. Cris has on an earpiece for the English language audio guide. It was warmer than expected, I had to take off my sweater under the bright sun.
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Approaching the middle villa
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Supported tree spreading it's branches in front of Rakushi-ken in the middle villa
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Stone bridge over the stream in the gardens of the middle villa
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Stream in the gardens of the middle villa
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The tour group crossing over the stone bridge
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Middle villa gardens
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Middle villa gardens
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Rakushi-ken in the middle villa, the first building that Princess Genyo commissioned
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Gardens in the middle villa
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Kyaku-den in the middle villa, showing the shelves designed to resemble hanging mist, kasumidana
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Interior of Kyaku-den
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Stone stairs leading up to a door in the wall around the middle villa (it's fenced off to fend of animals coming down the mountain and eating the crops growing in the terraced fields below)
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Garden in front of Kyaku-den
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Interior of Kyaku-den
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Interior of Kyaku-den showing the shelves more closely
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Interior of Kyaku-den, Japanese cedarwood door depicting carp in nets
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Garden in front of Kyaku-den
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Going around the side of Kyaku-den
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Waterspout on Kyaku-den
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Interior of Kyaku-den
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Interior of Kyaku-den
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Leaving Kyaku-den
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Gate to Kyaku-den
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View from inside the pine aisle heading to the Upper Villa, with terraced rice fields
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A path we didn't follow...
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The gate to the upper villa
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Stairs leading to the upper villa's tea pavillion
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Water running down a channel
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Cris climbing up to the Upper Villa, the hedges planted along this steep stairway blocked our view until we came out at the top, for dramatic effect
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And this is what we saw once we came out of the sheltering hedge (foreground)
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Looking back toward Kyoto
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Yokuryuchi with it's island said to resemble a swimming dragon
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The one-two-tree stone patterns inlaid in the floor around Rinun-tei (tea pavillion)
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View from Rinun-tei
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View from Rinun-tei
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A praying mantis was crawling along the paved floor where we sat on benches around the outside of Rinun-tei. Unfortunately, one of the people on the tour stepped on it soon after I took the snapshot.
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Stone lantern by Rinun-tei
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Stone lantern by Rinun-tei
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Waterfall on the path from Rinun-tei to Kyusui-tei
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Looking the other way from the last picture
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A covered wooden bridge in Yokuryuchi
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A covered wooden bridge in Yokuryuchi
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Island in Yokuryuchi
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A bridge on the path to Kyusui-tei
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Some of the tour group crossing the bridge, heading to Kyusui-tei
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A covered wooden bridge in Yokuryuchi
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Golden birn on top of the covered wooden bridge in Yokuryuchi
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Kyusui-tei, a tea pavillion at the highest point of the islet in the middle of Yokuryuchi
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Kyusui-tei, the only building that stands as it was when the villa was originally built. The emperor again had a raised set of mats to sit upon
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Panel detail in Kyusui-tei
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Kyusui-tei
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Yokuryuchi
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Island in Yokuryuchi
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Looking across Yokuryuchi at Nishihama (west seashore)
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Walking around Yokuryuchi
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Walking around Yokuryuchi
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Boat house
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Looking back across Yokuryuchi to the covered wooden bridge
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Nishihama, with our Japanese speaking guide pointing out the boat landing
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Nishihama
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Island in Yokuryuchi, looking back at Rinun-tei
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Looking back toward Kyoto, from Nishihama
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Boat landing, tie up to the vertical stone
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The earth bridge that we walked over
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A covered bench
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Looking back at Rinun-tei
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Boat house and earth bridge
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Island in Yokuryuchi
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Yokuryuchi
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Yokuryuchi
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Rinun-tei
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Supported trees on the shore of Yokuryuch