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    Little Book of Kyoto
    Little Book of Kyoto
    Little Book of Kyoto
    Ebook393 pages1 hour

    Little Book of Kyoto

    By Ben Simmons

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    About this ebook

    The Little Book of Kyoto is a celebratory visual guide to one of the world's truly unique cities.

    Kyoto was Japan's imperial capital for one thousand years, as well as its cultural birthplace. A companion to the best-selling The Little Book of Japan, this captivating volume weaves words and images to form a rich tapestry of the fantastic sights of Kyoto, including dozens of World Heritage Sites, Zen gardens, temples, shrines, shopping areas, festivals, and food.

    A series of forty-eight highlights, organized into four chapters, cover Kyoto's imperial legacy, culture and customs, Zen heritage, top attractions, and its essential spirit. Veteran photojournalist Ben Simmons continues a journey of discovery begun over twenty-five years ago, seeking fresh insights and an immersive take on this endlessly compelling city. Explore its history, art, cultural commentary, and Japanese travel tips.

    Small enough to carry anywhere, this book is the perfect guide to accompany travelers on their trip to Kyoto--whether visiting for the first time or simply taking a more in-depth look beneath the surface of this ancient capital.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTuttle Publishing
    Release dateNov 20, 2018
    ISBN9781462920198
    Little Book of Kyoto

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      Book preview

      Little Book of Kyoto - Ben Simmons

      CHAPTER 1

      THE SPIRIT OF KYOTO

      A kannushi priest in ceremonial costume at Hirano Shrine.

      From the excitement and pageantry of its plentiful festivals to the timeless Zen calm of its sacred temples, the spirit of Kyoto emanates from a rich heritage and deep pride as Japan’s imperial capital for more than a thousand years. Kyoto’s confidence in its unparalleled history and traditions is further enriched by the vital energy generated by ongoing education that flows steadily from the city’s abundance of colleges, universities, training schools, and cultural centers. Kyoto’s dedicated teachers insure a resilient spirit and resurgent energy will ultimately achieve a crucial balance of historical legacy facing the challenges of modernity.

      Kyoto’s ethos is reflected in the artful arrangement and detailed attention afforded every aspect in daily life: the fresh flowers at a neighborhood shrine, the elegant presentation of cuisine for both visual and culinary delight, the precise rituals of the city’s legions of monks, gardeners, tea attendants, Shinto priests, and skilled craftspeople. Even shopping chores amidst Kyoto’s historical markets and generations-old shops can seem a spiritually enhanced adventure. The spirit of Kyoto nurtures its residents and inspires the Japanese people throughout the archipelago, while touching the lives of perceptive visitors from all over the world.

      Festivals

      Kyoto’s matsuri festivals are held throughout the year. Every month, nearly every week, and at times it seems on any day, there is a traditional matsuri or holiday celebration under way somewhere in the city. Kyoto festivals and special events are so plentiful that the monthly Kyoto Visitor’s Guide can hardly fit all the details into the magazine’s thirty pages. Kyoto’s most famous festival, the Gion Matsuri, was recently added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Begun as a purification ritual to ward off deadly plagues more than 700 years ago, the Gion Festival transforms the city for the entire month of July. Extensive preparations by craft guilds, merchant families, and neighborhood organizations proceed amidst performances of traditional music and theater, culminating in the Gion Matsuri’s two epic parade processions. Each of the towering hoko floats and richly adorned yama floats, with their strikingly attired attendants, are really too overwhelming to fully absorb before the next amazing display is pulled or carried into view.

      Kyoto’s Aoi Matsuri, celebrated since the 6th century, is the world’s oldest festival and continues largely unchanged, a sedate procession of chaste elegance and period costume celebrating Heian culture. The Jidai Matsuri, Kyoto’s Procession of the Eras, begins with ceremonial services at sacred Heian Jingu Shrine, where the spirits of Heian’s two deified emperors are transferred to portable mikoshi shrines that are accompanied by marchers in traditional costumes from each historical era. The reverential and celebratory procession makes its circuitous way to the Imperial Palace before returning through Heian Jingu’s iconic towering torii gate.

      The Ofune Hoko float during the Gion Ato-Matsuri Parade.

      Participants in Gion’s Hanagasa Flower Hat Procession.

      A performance of the Japanese biwa lute at Yasaka Shrine.

      A chigo sacred child on horseback.

      Musicians on a Gion Festival parade float on Shijo-dori Avenue.

      A traditional dance with sensu folding fans at Heian Shrine.

      A Gion Festival parade on Shijo-dori.

      Boys in festival attire ride atop a yama pull-style float.

      Young taiko drummers on parade.

      A procession of taimatsu torch bearers.

      An impressive Gion warlord.

      Fire walking at Tanukidani Fudo-in Temple.

      Shrines

      Kyoto has hundreds of Shinto shrines located throughout the central city and in the surrounding mountains and southern districts, usually denoted by a simple but distinctive torii gate. Shinto is Japan’s native animistic religion, with an almost phobic concern for purity, divinity, and secretive ritual. Layers of gates and fences ward off the impure and protect the devout. Emphasizing harmony with nature and spiritual deities, the Shinto kami sacred spirits are traditionally enshrined in beautiful natural locations. Kyoto’s shrines have preserved green sanctuaries, from vestige to forest, amidst the city’s modern configuration.

      Kyoto’s shrines range from the austere, with unadorned and un-painted timbers, to striking vermilion lacquered halls with decorative fixtures. Some shrine architraves are carved with mythical creatures, and the pristine grounds enclose the remnants of the natural landscape. All elements, from architecture to garden, reflect dedicated craftsmanship. Even the metal fittings of a shrine’s roof truss are fashioned by highly skilled Kyoto craftsmen, created from a thin sheet of copper, shaped with a great variety of hammers and punches, then brushed with lacquer and covered with gold leaf, before finally rubbed to a perfect finish. Wooden lattice at some Kyoto shrines may be laboriously treated with thirty coats of lacquer. Yet the most striking feature of Kyoto shrines is their spartan emptiness, perhaps offering an inspiring acuity, a symbolic counterpoint to lives where every nook and cranny is filled with distractions.

      A maiko with her attendant at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

      A kannushi priest at the inner shrine of Yoshida Jinja.

      An artfully decorated ceremonial drum at Hirano Shrine.

      The outer shrine at Shimogamo Jinja.

      A respectful appeal to the shrine’s deity.

      Shinsen offerings of fish, rice, sake, and salt.

      A torii gate with shimenawa straw rope denotes the sacred entry to Ota Shrine.

      A vermilion bridge over the Kamiya River at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

      Chochin paper lanterns inscribed with donors’ names at Kanja Densha Shrine.

      A temizuya water font for purification at Kawai-jinja.

      A torii gate and sacred waterfall

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