詩仙堂と圓光寺 Shisendo and Enkouji temples

 Explored the north eastern part of the city today, Shisendo and Enkouji temples. Shisendo was built by Jozan Ishikawa, a retired samurai, in 1641 as a residence to enjoy his life after retirement.  He spent some 30 years here practicing his already exceptional talent in poetry and calligraphy.  The big garden with seasonal flowers must've inspired his creativity. 

京都市の北東、一乗寺あたりにある、詩仙堂と圓光寺に行ってきました。詩仙堂は、石川丈山の隠居どころ。石川丈山は漢詩と書道の大家で、侍の勤めを終えて退職したあと、ここで詩歌三昧の生活を30年も送った。庭がきれいで思索が捗りそう…。

Enkouji temple was built as a school for math in 1601 by order of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the soon-to-be ruler of Japan at the time. It's intriguing that it was open to public as well as to monks.  This temple has a huge garden too, where maple leaves are beautiful, especially in the autumn foliage season.  Ieyasu's grave is  on a small hill, where you can see the northern part of the city.  Kyoto city offers a nice view because there's no skyscrapers, which are prohibited in order to keep the traditional look of Kyoto. I love it!  The scents of mountains, fragrant olive flowers, the twilight, and autumn.. they all invoke nostalgia. Oh, there was a monkey in the graveyard, munching the chrysanthemum flowers that are the offerings for the grave...

It takes 30 min by bus to come to this area from the city center, but it's all worth it, and it's great that it's not crowded as much. 

圓光寺は徳川家康が数学発展のために建てた。僧侶だけでなく一般人も受け入れていたという、最先端さ。広い庭があり、絵画、活版印刷の道具などがいろいろな建物にあり、面積も大きいので見て回るのが楽しい。家康の墓もあった。ちょっとした山（丘？）で、市北部を一望できる。山の香り、夕方の香り、金木犀の香り、秋の香り。郷愁を誘う。美しい〜最高でしたーー　そいえば猿も見た。お供えの菊の花をむしゃむしゃ食べてた…

バスで30分強という地理上、混んでなくてなおよし。

家康の墓。天下人も、亡くなったらお墓に入るんだよなあ…とか改めて思う。