[The left lion, with the mouth open]
First we inspected the lion-dogs of the Kiyomizu Temple, standing in front of the vermilion Niomon Gate. These are not really “komainu,” but rather Chinese lions, shishi. The imposing, almost royal statues are 170 centimeters tall and date from 1924. They are beautiful pieces of stonework, but where does this different typology come from?
[The right lion also has its mouth open]
In fact, the lions of Kiyomizu are copies of the oldest stone lion-guardians in Japan, those standing at the inside of the Nandaimon, the Great South Gate of Todaiji Temple in Nara. In front of this gate the famous, huge wooden guardians cut by Unkei and Kaikei rise up, and few people perhaps notice in the passing the stone lions placed immediately inside the gate. These date from 1196 and were carved by the Chinese sculptor Chen Heqing – one of the craftsmen invited to come to Japan from China to rebuild Todaiji which had been destroyed by the war between the Taira and the Heike.
[Close-up of the right lion - © Ad Blankestijn]
Now the style and everything else falls in place – lions of this type can also be seen at ancient Chinese imperial graves, such as the Six-Dynasty period graves dotting the surroundings of modern Nanjing. When I studied at Nanjing University, I often made cycling trips to such graves, of which only the stone statues stood forlorn in the rural countryside.
[Small stone statues]
We turn left at the Niomon Gate, walk through a quiet lane past the temple office buildings. To our right is a plot where small stone statues have been gathered. In the past these stood at road sides, but as modern traffic does not tolerate such obstacles, most of them have been destroyed – only some have been saved by bringing them to temples.
Further left stands Jojuin, the quarters in the past of Kiyomizu’s head priests, built in shoin-style. The garden I have come for lies at the north-facing veranda and consists of a pond, two islands, a planted hill to the right, and “borrowed scenery” (shakkei) right in front. The real garden is relatively small, behind the hedge at the edge of the pond is a deep valley, but the forest on the other side that embraces this garden, has been incorporated in the design. It makes the garden look like a safe haven, a secret space far from the crowds and the dust of the world.
[Entrance of Jojuin]
The garden dates from the early 17th century and has been ascribed to Kobori Enshu, but there is no proof for this. On the large island stands a stone lantern called Kagero, and to the right of that a strangely shaped stone has been placed. As it reminds one of an eboshi, the hat courtiers wore in the Heian period, it has been named "Eboshi-iwa." The hand-washing basin standing to the left before the veranda similarly evokes the long sleeves of a kimono and is called "Furisode chozubachi." The “borrowed scenery” effect has been ingeniously strengthened by placing another stone lantern in a clearing on the distant hillside, outside the garden, but creating the illusion that it forms part of it. With Entsuji, the garden of Jojuin is therefore an classic example of the shakkei technique of merging distant vistas into a small garden and so enlarging its apparent size.
[The autumn forest opposite the gate, outside Jojuin]
Jojuin has been named “The Garden of the Moon” for the beautiful image of the moon reflected on the surface of the pond. Today, the calm surface mirrors the rocks and the stone lantern, the hedges, and the green hills that lie like an embrace around this secluded spot. Photography is forbidden inside Jojuin, so you'll have to do with the photos I took outside.
Address: 294 1-chome Kiyomizu Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Tel. 075-551-1234
Access: 20 min on foot from the Gojozaka or Kiyomizumichi bus stop (bus 206 from Kyoto St)
Note: Information about Kiyomizu's stone shishi statues was gleaned from Kyoto Komainu Meguri by Onodera Yoshiaki, Nakanishiya Shuppan, 1999 (one of the foremost authorities on komainu in Japan).