Kiyosumi Garden

Went to Kiyosumi Gardens today, which a small traditional Japanese Garden about 10 minutes walk from my hotel.  I shot some video and took some pictures.  Park looked to be about 3 acres in size, next to it was another park that was similar in size and even at 11:00am was full of dog walkers and folk laying out blankets for picnics in the 45 degree temps.  I'd say Tokyo is also tired of winter and ready for spring.  It was cloudy, and not the best views, but I can see how the park would be fabulous in the springtime.  Speaking of spring, many of the trees here are budding already and there were even some flowers at the park.

I don't know what this is but it was pretty, the only other thing in flower was a small tree.

Lets start with a short video.

Now some pictures.

This bamboo and granite fountain looked very old and had obviously been carved by hand.  The bowl in the top was about a foot deep.

This bridge is made of two giant slabs of stone each about 7 feet long.

Lots of ducks, lots of Koi (Japanese Carp) some of the Koi were close to 3 feet long.

Another short video, I used to keep Bonsai, so I found this interesting, you might not.  It is possible to use bonsai techniques on full size trees to get a nice shape, the Japanese often do this and it was obvious to me that whomever tends this garden is a master.

Here's some random shots around the park.

The hill is the focal point of the park, it is offset by a small house done in the traditional style that sits out into the pond.

Unfortunately I could not go inside the house.  It is rented out for parties and events. I can imagine an awesome family reunion here, it's hard to see but there is a six foot covered porch around three sides and the walls are all sliding screens.

This is a small shrine that was tucked in behind the big hill, I almost missed it.  I always feel weird taking pictures of places of worship, it feels like I am intruding.

Better shot of the little figure in the right of the previous photo.

A closer look at the main part of the shrine.

The people who first built this garden imported and placed stones from all over Japan, I thought these looked quite striking.  Keep in mind none of this is naturally occurring, someone built all of it.  The hill was made, the pond was dug and every rock was placed by hand by the gardeners that created this place.  The Japanese have a long tradition of imitating nature as art, Bonsai, Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and Japanese gardens, such as this, are all examples of that.  I would call this a Kaiyū-shiki-teien, or promenade garden, it has a small winding path meant to lead you around the garden and present you with views created by the artist.

Here is some info in English about the garden.  More info and pictures not taken on a cold cloudy day can be found here:  http://teien.tokyo-park.or.jp/en/kiyosumi/  

I am off to Akihabra today, which is a place for the Japanese cultures of Manga and cartoons and such.  I'm not planning on shopping there, but everyone says you need to go there and it is an easy train ride so I am.

Cya later.