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Kyoto: A Contemplative Guide
In brief, it is a narrative and guide to sixteen representative sights which, in addition to being outstanding in themselves, combine to give the visitor a broad understanding of Kyoto's political, religious, and cultural history. Among them arc the ancient Phoenix Hall of the Byodo-in, the famous rock garden at Ryoan-ji, the mountain temples of Enryaku-ji, the lavishly decorated Nijo Castle of the Tokugawas, the Silver Pavilion and its remarkable garden, and the "all-time temple," Kiyomizu.
The book falls into three parts. Part I is a narrative which devotes a chapter to each location and discusses its background, its place in history, and its noteworthy aspects, offering insights into its essence and bringing it alive for the reader. Taken as a whole, the narrative tells the story of Kyoto. Part II is a comprehensive guide to each of the sixteen sights, plus associated establishments. With this guide the visitor needs no further assistance to learn all that a place has to offer him. It is factual, concise, and complete. Part III, "Getting There and Back," provides complete information on the practical aspects of visiting each place, including public transportation routes.
The book is generously illustrated with photographs, maps, route plans, and building plans, as well as a selection of reproductions from old prints and picture scrolls. Three appendices—a chart of Japanese art periods, a glossary, and a list of useful Japanese phrases—further enhance its value.
The book falls into three parts. Part I is a narrative which devotes a chapter to each location and discusses its background, its place in history, and its noteworthy aspects, offering insights into its essence and bringing it alive for the reader. Taken as a whole, the narrative tells the story of Kyoto. Part II is a comprehensive guide to each of the sixteen sights, plus associated establishments. With this guide the visitor needs no further assistance to learn all that a place has to offer him. It is factual, concise, and complete. Part III, "Getting There and Back," provides complete information on the practical aspects of visiting each place, including public transportation routes.
The book is generously illustrated with photographs, maps, route plans, and building plans, as well as a selection of reproductions from old prints and picture scrolls. Three appendices—a chart of Japanese art periods, a glossary, and a list of useful Japanese phrases—further enhance its value.
- GenresJapanTravelNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 4, 2024
"It was interesting that the character in his face did not transmit to photographic paper. To me, that was like Zen: the moment you wen to capture it, it disappeared".
Una guía distinta de Kioto porque el autor selecciona 15 lugares que le gustan especialmente y que fueron importantes en la Historia de la ciudad. La mezcla de hechos históricos, impresiones personales y escenas imaginadas crean una mezcla sugerente, a la que se suma el paso de los años: ese Kioto que describe Mosher, atravesado por líneas de tranvía y con solo cuatro hoteles turísticos, ya no existe.
Una guía distinta de Kioto porque el autor selecciona 15 lugares que le gustan especialmente y que fueron importantes en la Historia de la ciudad. La mezcla de hechos históricos, impresiones personales y escenas imaginadas crean una mezcla sugerente, a la que se suma el paso de los años: ese Kioto que describe Mosher, atravesado por líneas de tranvía y con solo cuatro hoteles turísticos, ya no existe.
June 30, 2017
When I first came to Japan in 1984, to Kyoto, this was my guide to the cultural history of the city. It was showing age even then (first published in 1964), but in charming or at least not bothersome ways, references to the streetcars which even by the eighties no longer existed, for example. Much more than a travel guide. Mosher focuses on sixteen representative places and offers a compelling history of each. The work has been in and out of print, but seems to be available now. Over the years I've given copies to several friends who were visiting Kyoto for the first time. It's that sort of book. I'd recommend it to anyone planning a visit real or imagined.
November 22, 2024
This introduction to Japan’s most famous temple invites.
“If there is one Buddhist temple that spans Kyoto’s history, has been important and well known in all periods, and yet is not overassociated with any one of them, it is Kiyomizu-dera, known to all simply as Kiyomizu. This temple is a unique and inseparable part of Kyoto. It would be difficult to imagine a Kyoto that lacked Kiyomizu, yet strangely the temple has little connection with Buddhism of that city…”
“If there is one Buddhist temple that spans Kyoto’s history, has been important and well known in all periods, and yet is not overassociated with any one of them, it is Kiyomizu-dera, known to all simply as Kiyomizu. This temple is a unique and inseparable part of Kyoto. It would be difficult to imagine a Kyoto that lacked Kiyomizu, yet strangely the temple has little connection with Buddhism of that city…”
December 28, 2018
A must read before, during, and even after visiting Kyoto. I am seriously on a hunt for a physical copy of this book (I borrowed from a local library), just so that I can read this over and over and over again, no matter how many years from now or many times I have visited Kyoto.
The writing is so beautiful, I did shed a tear or two at some points.
The writing is so beautiful, I did shed a tear or two at some points.
April 26, 2024
Lovely guide book to several sites in Kyoto, all tied together with a historical timeline narration that makes both the sites and the history more memorable. It is over 50 years old, but the sites it discusses are sometimes over a thousand years old, so it doesn't feel too outdated. ;)
March 22, 2022
It seems to be out of print now, but perhaps it will bounce back as it has done so many times since it was first published in 1964: Gouverneur Mosher's Kyoto: A Contemplative Guide. This was my first guide to Kyoto when I arrived there as foreign exchange student of Kyoto University in 1982. There were very few guidebooks at that time (no Lonely Planet, no Rough Guide, no Gateway to Japan!) and Mosher's book stood out because of its high quality. I devoured the book and enthusiastically visited all the places he describes, even little Shinsen-en, the pond that is a small remnant of the original Heian palace gardens. I fell in love with Kyoto.
"I first came to Sakamoto on a quiet, mid-winter morning whose low sun was badly weakened by the haze over Lake Biwa." (Mosher on Enryakuji)
Since then, I have read the book several times from cover to cover, for it is more than a guide: the first half of the book is a short history of Kyoto, told imaginatively around the temples Mosher wants to introduce (and although there are now other popular histories of Kyoto that reflect recent scholarship, as John Dougill's excellent Kyoto, A Cultural History, I remain fond of Mosher's Kyoto). The second part contains detailed descriptions of these temples, with loving attention to art works; and the (shortest) third part is a travel guide, the only part of the book now outdated as Kyoto has changed much and tourism also. One nice point here is Mosher's advocacy of Kyoto's streetcar system, an elegant traffic solution much better than the stinking cars and buses that now clog the streets of the Old Capital.
"Here, in the depths of the mountaintop, is Saicho's tomb, standing alone with graceful dignity in a quiet, hidden hollow." (Mosher on Enryakuji)
Mosher delves into Kyoto's rich history, not only with contemplation, but also a sense of sadness at the list of cruelties and follies that human history inevitably is. He writes about the mighty monastery that Enryakuji on Mt Hiei once was, before Nobunaga crushed the power of the monks, and also about the rise of Amida Buddhism in Sanzenin in Ohara. The great Fujiwara clan is treated in the chapter on Byodoin, the Phoenix Hall in Uji.
"Truly, this is a building with wings, lighter than the air in which it floats [...] He (the Buddha Amida) is there inside this magical, floating building, looking in upon himself." (Mosher on Byodoin)
In Jakkoin, also in Ohara, he meditates on the fall of the Taira family. Chapter Seven, Anrakuji and Honenin, tells about the early persecution of Pure Land Buddhism. The Zen sect is treated in the chapter in Daitokuji. Ginkakuji serves to highlight the (mis-)rule of the Ashikaga clan, in Ryoanji he meditates upon the terrible Onin war and the destruction of virtually the whole of Kyoto. In Daigoji and Sanboin Mosher tells about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nijo Castle serves as a stage for the story of the Tokugawa.
"It is said that Nijo's garden was originally laid out without trees so that the shogun would not be saddened by the sight of the passing seasons." (Mosher on Nijo Castle)
Nice is also the inclusion of Nijo Jinya, an inn with anti-ninja trappings for feudal lords, south of Nijo castle. He rounds off with Kiyomizudera, as the "All-Time Temple", although historically it should have come at the beginning of the book, for it preceded the founding of Kyoto.
"A deep ravine that works in through densely overgrown hills crowding close on all sides. On the slope... sits the little Tendai nunnery called Jakko-in." (Mosher on Jakko-in)
As Mosher admits in his preface, he had to leave out many great temples for reasons of space: Nishi-Honganji, Chionin, Nanzenin, Tenryuji... He also leaves out the Shinto shrines, something he justifies by saying that Kyoto was a city dominated by Buddhism. That may be true, but Shinto (either allied with Buddhism in joint facilities like Gion/Yasaka or not) still played an important role - read the Genji Monogatari and you realize the popularity of the Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines and their festival. The Matsuo shrine played an important role in sake brewing, the Inari shrine predated the founding of the city.
"The old housekeeper at Anrakuji welcomes the rare visitor to her temple enthusiastically, for she has a fine story to tell, and the opportunity to tell it comes seldom indeed." (Mosher on Anrakuji)
The better the book, the more you miss temples that have not been included. I miss my favorite Shisendo, which Mosher calls "too special", but it could have been used to write about the life of Sinified intellectuals in the 17th century. Rakushisha in Sagano could have served as the pillar for an essay about haiku culture in Kyoto. Rokuharamitsuji would have made a great chapter about Taira Kiyomori (whose statue stands in the temple)... Kyoto's history is rich indeed; I very much would have liked to read what Mosher has to say about these and other interesting places. He should have written a second volume...
P.S. My edition carries a reproduction of a beautiful woodblock print by the late Clifton Karhu on the cover.
"I first came to Sakamoto on a quiet, mid-winter morning whose low sun was badly weakened by the haze over Lake Biwa." (Mosher on Enryakuji)
Since then, I have read the book several times from cover to cover, for it is more than a guide: the first half of the book is a short history of Kyoto, told imaginatively around the temples Mosher wants to introduce (and although there are now other popular histories of Kyoto that reflect recent scholarship, as John Dougill's excellent Kyoto, A Cultural History, I remain fond of Mosher's Kyoto). The second part contains detailed descriptions of these temples, with loving attention to art works; and the (shortest) third part is a travel guide, the only part of the book now outdated as Kyoto has changed much and tourism also. One nice point here is Mosher's advocacy of Kyoto's streetcar system, an elegant traffic solution much better than the stinking cars and buses that now clog the streets of the Old Capital.
"Here, in the depths of the mountaintop, is Saicho's tomb, standing alone with graceful dignity in a quiet, hidden hollow." (Mosher on Enryakuji)
Mosher delves into Kyoto's rich history, not only with contemplation, but also a sense of sadness at the list of cruelties and follies that human history inevitably is. He writes about the mighty monastery that Enryakuji on Mt Hiei once was, before Nobunaga crushed the power of the monks, and also about the rise of Amida Buddhism in Sanzenin in Ohara. The great Fujiwara clan is treated in the chapter on Byodoin, the Phoenix Hall in Uji.
"Truly, this is a building with wings, lighter than the air in which it floats [...] He (the Buddha Amida) is there inside this magical, floating building, looking in upon himself." (Mosher on Byodoin)
In Jakkoin, also in Ohara, he meditates on the fall of the Taira family. Chapter Seven, Anrakuji and Honenin, tells about the early persecution of Pure Land Buddhism. The Zen sect is treated in the chapter in Daitokuji. Ginkakuji serves to highlight the (mis-)rule of the Ashikaga clan, in Ryoanji he meditates upon the terrible Onin war and the destruction of virtually the whole of Kyoto. In Daigoji and Sanboin Mosher tells about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nijo Castle serves as a stage for the story of the Tokugawa.
"It is said that Nijo's garden was originally laid out without trees so that the shogun would not be saddened by the sight of the passing seasons." (Mosher on Nijo Castle)
Nice is also the inclusion of Nijo Jinya, an inn with anti-ninja trappings for feudal lords, south of Nijo castle. He rounds off with Kiyomizudera, as the "All-Time Temple", although historically it should have come at the beginning of the book, for it preceded the founding of Kyoto.
"A deep ravine that works in through densely overgrown hills crowding close on all sides. On the slope... sits the little Tendai nunnery called Jakko-in." (Mosher on Jakko-in)
As Mosher admits in his preface, he had to leave out many great temples for reasons of space: Nishi-Honganji, Chionin, Nanzenin, Tenryuji... He also leaves out the Shinto shrines, something he justifies by saying that Kyoto was a city dominated by Buddhism. That may be true, but Shinto (either allied with Buddhism in joint facilities like Gion/Yasaka or not) still played an important role - read the Genji Monogatari and you realize the popularity of the Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines and their festival. The Matsuo shrine played an important role in sake brewing, the Inari shrine predated the founding of the city.
"The old housekeeper at Anrakuji welcomes the rare visitor to her temple enthusiastically, for she has a fine story to tell, and the opportunity to tell it comes seldom indeed." (Mosher on Anrakuji)
The better the book, the more you miss temples that have not been included. I miss my favorite Shisendo, which Mosher calls "too special", but it could have been used to write about the life of Sinified intellectuals in the 17th century. Rakushisha in Sagano could have served as the pillar for an essay about haiku culture in Kyoto. Rokuharamitsuji would have made a great chapter about Taira Kiyomori (whose statue stands in the temple)... Kyoto's history is rich indeed; I very much would have liked to read what Mosher has to say about these and other interesting places. He should have written a second volume...
P.S. My edition carries a reproduction of a beautiful woodblock print by the late Clifton Karhu on the cover.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews