Yakumo's World
Cherry Blossom Palace
Posted by GJC (Kyoto, Japan) on 5 April 2010 in Plant & Nature.
When the great haiku poet Matsuo Basho came upon the empty fields that centuries earlier had been the city of a mighty warrior clan, he was moved to tears. He composed this poem:
夏草や
兵どもが
夢の跡
Summer grasses;
All that remains
Of warrior's dreams
I often think of Basho's poem when strolling through this part of the Kyoto Imperial Palace grounds. This pond and bridge once formed the garden of the Konoe family (近衛家), who for nearly a thousand years were at the pinnacle of power within the Emperor's court. Now, however, their villa has utterly disappeared. All that remains are the hints of their once-magnificent garden: the pond, the stone bridge and dozens of descendents of the weeping cherry trees scattered throughout their grounds, a tree they loved so much that their villa was affectionately known as the Sakura Gosho (桜御所), the Cherry Blossom Palace.
Nikon D300
1/13 second
F/5.6
ISO 200
97 mm (35mm equiv.)
kyoto
spring
sakura
cherry
palace
pond
桜
京都
春
さくら
衛の池
御所
京都御所
