Arashiyama Part 2

嵐山　第二回

Arashiyama is finally colouring up as the temperature comes down. It's the right time to explore temples such as Tenryuji （天竜寺） and Nisonin （二村院）, pictured, the latter where the poet Teika completed the immortal collection Hyakunin-Isshu（百人一首, One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets). Below a priest explains Teika's enshrinement at the temple, viewed through the chain that functions as a water downpipe when it rains.


There are also plenty of historic and literary spots that are non-religious, such as Rakushisha (落紫舎), the House of Falling Persimmons, which the haiku poet Basho stayed at three times.


The banana tree on the grounds is said to have provided Basho with his pen name, basho （芭蕉）.

At this time of year, after all the season of "mellow fruitfulness" as the Western Romantic poet Keats put it, many plants are putting on exotic displays of fecundity. Anyone who can identify the fecundity below, please let us know! (And no, it's not a persimmon....)

Given Arashiyama's poetic pedigree, it's little surprise that even haiku are in bloom in the neighbourhood at this time of year!



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Arashiyama Part 1

Japan Kyoto Arashiyama Japan blog
Tenryuji
Nisonin
haiku