Exotic Beauty of Kin-gyu-in

Larry Knipfing Jun 08, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>A gorgeous pine tree adorns the courtyard entrance</p>

<p>The outer gate is open; the inner gate closed</p>

<p>...Being used to weigh down the branch of the pine</p>

<p>I turned the corner and found these!</p>

<p>These tall wooden statues had no sign to tell me what they are</p>

<p>Looking over the statues into the inner courtyard</p>

<p>And a view of the temple's beautiful garden</p>

<p>A monk in action, working hard on the sand design</p>

Myoshin-ji Temple complex is one of my favorite places to visit in Kyoto, simply because I don't know what delights I am going to find each time I go there. At Kin-gyu-in, the outer gate was open, so I stepped in. Nobody was there, and the inner gate was closed. I turned back to leave when something caught my eye. And then something else. And something else again. First was a stone that was being used to weigh down the branch of a gorgeous pine tree. Second were some unique wooden statues. Third was a peak into the inner garden, where a bare-chested monk was working on the sand design. All of this in the space of five minutes, and just as I was about to leave!

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Larry Knipfing @larry.knipfing

Born on Long Island, New York in 1958, I have spent the last 30 years of my life living in Japan, and enjoying every minute of it! I especially love photography, and Japan is definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world to photograph! My other love is fiction writing and I have pub...