Saturday, November 24, 2007

Tamozawa Goyoutei

I wanted to show these pictures of the beautiful Tamozawa Emperor's Garden today. After the tea ceremony I wandered around the gardens (and was late for my next appointment!) but it was lovely with the autumn colors. I had to forgo the tour of the residence itself (I only saw a corner of it at the tea ceremony) but the pamphlet I picked up said it has 106 rooms in it. I can imagine the royal family gazing out over the garden while flurries of servants hover around.This is the front entrance and a tour group had just pulled up. Everyone is taking off their shoes as they go in.
Here is a view of the roof arch all made of wood.
The maple trees were gorgeous! I think the cold air makes the colors vibrant. It was really cold!Here is the side view of one of the rooms. I see this wing has glass in the windows. There is an outer walkway all around the room and also an inner walkway between the windows and the paper doors.Looking back at the residence from the gardens.
The beautiful pond was fed by a small stream that meandered through the gardens with stepping stones here and there. The outdoor paths were set with wooden logs and gravel which matched the setting beautifully.

9 comments:

Quilt Pixie said...

what a gorgeous park for the emperor to have outside his door!

atet said...

Just beautiful. Wouldn't it be fun to go back when you had more time? If the gardens are this well thought out and beautiful what must the inside be like?

Françoise said...

So elegant and peaceful!

anne bebbington said...

The colours of those maples are stunning!

Clare said...

Fascinating. I assume it must be warm there in summer otherwise what's the point of a house with no insulation. The gardens are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

keslyn said...

What beautiful looking gardens, thanks for sharing them with us.

Annelies said...

This is so beautiful ! What a history. Thank you for sharing !

CONNIE W said...

I am trying to get caught up on blog reading. I won't leave a comment on each post but wanted to write how much I enjoyed each one. You continue to share so many interesting facts and topics and I always look forward to the next post.

meggie said...

Very beautiful, & obviously held in very high regard, & treated as the treasure it is.