Petit English Garden of MARPLE & POIROT

My wife and I started gardening in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2003. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. At the beginning we made several structure such as steps and paths, and planted turf, fruit trees, roses, herbs etc. In 2010, we visited several famous English gardens, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Mottisfont Abbey Garden and Hidcote Manor Garden. We were shocked by the glory of those gardens. Since then, we have been trying to make small but glorious gardens by ourselves.

庭の紹介

　夫婦で庭づくりを福岡の郊外で2003年に始めました.　赤土むきだしの斜面にまず階段や園路をつくって芝をはり、果樹やバラ、ハーブなどを植えました.

　2010年にイギリスの有名なガーデンの、シシングハースト、モティスフォントアビー、ヒドコートマナーなどを回り、その素晴らしさに圧倒され、それから自分たちで小さくても素晴らしい庭をめざして庭づくりをつづけています.

1/17/2015

KYOTO - THE OLD CAPITAL OF JAPAN 2 (古都京都その２清水寺と水道閣)

Next, we went to Kiyomizu-dera temple (清水寺, it means 'Pure Water Temple' in Japanese).

The temple is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780, and derives its name from the fall's pure waters. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Kiyomizu-dera is best known for its wooden stage (舞台) that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below. The stage affords visitors a nice view of the numerous cherry and maple trees below that erupt in a sea of color in spring and fall, as well as of the city of Kyoto in the distance.
The main hall, which together with the stage was built without the use of nails, houses the temple's primary object of worship, a small statue of the eleven faced, thousand armed Kannon.

Inside the main hall.

And　we visited Nanzenji temple (南禅寺). This temple is one of the most important Zen temples in Japan. It is the head temple of one of the schools within the Rinzai sect (臨済宗) of Japanese Zen Buddhism and includes multiple subtemples, that make the already large complex of temple buildings even larger.

The Sanmon Gate（三門）

The Hodo (法堂)

Our main purpose of visiting Nanzenji temple was to look at Suido-Kaku (水道閣), which is a large brick aqueduct that passes through the temple grounds. It was built in 1880s' and the aqueduct is part of a canal system that was constructed to carry water and goods between Kyoto and Lake Biwa in neighbouring Shiga Prefecture. Paths run alongside the canal that lead into the surrounding forest. The contrast of the old Zen temple and the western brick structure seemed me to be quite interesting.