Kyoto is Japan’s ancient capital, carrying centuries of history and cultural refinement in its temples, gardens, and streets. Once the heart of Japan’s imperial court (circa 794 AD), the city’s legacy lives on in its timeless aesthetic and profound connection to tradition.
I had high expectations for Kyoto’s famed architecture, temples and Karesansui. However, with my parents’ energy and enthusiasm for a ten-temple marathon understandably limited, we opted for a more relaxed itinerary: a cozy day trip to the mountains to visit the region’s most iconic site, Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto is a masterpiece of Japanese architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage. The name Kiyomizu—“pure water”—comes from the Otowa Waterfall that runs beneath the temple. Visitors drink from its three streams, each believed to grant blessings: longevity, success, or love. The temple’s wooden stage is built without a single nail.
Some art history lesson
Kyoto’s aesthetic is inseparable from its history, with roots deeply entwined with the Tang dynasty (yes my last name😎) of China. During that era, Japanese monks traveled to China, absorbing and bringing back architectural principles, artistic sensibilities, and Buddhist philosophies. While China’s aesthetic evolved over successive dynasties, Japan preserved and adapted many Tang-era ideals, refining them into a style uniquely its own.
At the heart of Kyoto’s beauty lies the concept of wabi-sabi. Often described as the appreciation of imperfection and transience, wabi-sabi is a philosophy that celebrates the quiet dignity of natural forms, the weathering of time, and the beauty found in simplicity. This perspective is especially evident in Kyoto’s architecture and gardens.
Japanese gardens embody this ethos through their kare-sansui (dry landscape) style, where “dead mountains and waters” evoke a profound stillness. These gardens distill nature into its essence—arranged rocks suggest rivers and peaks, while raked gravel flows like water. To some, Japanese gardens may seem akin to Chinese gardens—noooooo the two diverge in essence.
Chinese gardens symbolize abundance and life. They overflow with lush vegetation, intricate pavilions, and meandering paths, offering a vibrant, almost theatrical expression of thought and vitality. Japanese gardens, in contrast, strive for restraint and void. They find beauty in emptiness, impermanence, and the silence that lingers between what is present and what has faded away.
Which is which?
Kiyomizu-dera Temple and reflect the philosophy of wabi-sabi and the soul of Kyoto—just like its name, “beauty written in water”.