Kyoto's Osawa-no-ike Pond in B&W

Beautiful man-made pond attached to Daikaku-ji Temple

Larry Knipfing Feb 14, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Osawa-no-ike Pond in late December</p>

<p>Dying lotus with cloud reflected in the pond</p>

<p>Although pink summer lotus (with huge green leaves) are very pretty, dying lotus in winter are also beautiful in their own way</p>

<p>Old Buddhist statue along the path</p>

<p>Small shrine with large old holy tree</p>

<p>Close up of the holy tree and shrine</p>

<p>Stone monument near the pond with kanji lettering carved into the stone</p>

<p>View of a nearby pagoda through two cherry trees and a small pond of lotus</p>

<p>Another small shrine near the pond </p>

This man-made pond was built originally for a villa for the Saga Emperor, sometime in the 8th century. It still exists today as part of Daikaku-ji, a temple I really love. The combination of temple and pond makes for a very nice experience, and I highly recommend going there. I visited in late December, but it wasn't cold at all. A video I watched in the temple showed the pond in summer full of gorgeous lotus (hasu), so I am definitely going back to enjoy that! There is also a pagoda, bamboo grove, plum trees and cherry trees, so it looks like it's beautiful year round.

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Find out more about Daikakuji Temple.

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...