Beside Nanzenji temple in Kyoto, Murin-an (“an” means hermitage), a second house of Aritomo Yamagata, who was a politician in the Meiji period, is situated. This time, we strolled around Okazaki where the Murin-an and Nanzenji temple stand.
We took a Kyoto city bus (No. 5) from Kyoto Station and got off at the bus stop Jingumichi. From there, we walked toward the east while viewing Biwako-sosui (Lake Biwa Canal).
We reached Murin-an in a few minutes on foot from the bus stop. This building was built between 1894 and 1896.
The garden of Murin-an is known as a masterpiece of a modern Japanese garden, and designated as a scenic spot. The water flowing in this garden is drawn from Biwako-sosui.
The main building, which is a Japanese-style wooden house, and a western-style brick building (white building), seen from the garden.
This is a tea-ceremony house.
The garden seen from the interior of the main building.
The interior of the main building is simple.
The interior of the western-style building was opened at that time. A drawing room on the second floor, where the “Murin-an Meeting” was held in 1903 by Hirobumi Ito et. al., to confer about the relationship with Russia, has remained as it was at that time.
(The first floor is an archive.)
This is the drawing room on the second floor. A lounge suite and Japanese paintings were superbly matched.
After that, we had lunch and roamed around there.
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, stands by “Otorii” (gate) of Heian Jingu Shrine. The museum held “Tsuguharu Fujita (Leonard Foujita) Exhibition” and that day was the final day. So we dropped by the museum.
These are views seen from windows on the third floor of the museum.
The photos taken while waiting for a bus. The red building is Otenmon Gate of Heian Jingu Shrine.
I took a walk on Shijo-dori Street.
Minamiza
Restaurant Kikusui (Western food)
Tokasaikan (Chinese food)
We had a fun day, indeed.
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