The Pinnacle of Wabi-Sabi Aesthetics | Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa

I first learned about the Katsura Imperial Villa from reading Nakamura Yoshifumi's writings about visiting Hannah Arendt's home in Denmark. Hannah often watched the moon rise from the sea on her terrace, which reminded him of the Moon-viewing Pavilion at Katsura. Not only Hannah, but modernist masters like Le Corbusier also visited the Katsura Imperial Villa in the early 20th century. For them, this ancient royal residence was their first stunning glimpse of Eastern architecture and aesthetics. To visit the Katsura Imperial Villa, one must apply on the official website and wait for an email reply before visiting. There are English tours available, but the visit lasts less than an hour, and at each spot, visitors are almost rushed through like ducks being herded. The guide mentioned that Japanese gardens emphasize the creation of scenery through sound. The rustling of stepping on pebbles, the sound of the wind through pine trees, the cries of cicadas in the heat of summer, and the sound of snow falling in winter are all 'sceneries' beyond what meets the eye in the garden. As for the architecture itself, the most striking impression is how the royal residence can be so elegantly simple and unadorned. Stone, wood, paper, bamboo, and grass are the main materials, resembling the hermitage of a recluse. The blue and white checkered patterns in the Shokin-tei Pavilion, the color coordination of the walls, and the paulownia wood grain patterns on the washi paper have a very modern aesthetic. The Katsura Imperial Villa has been almost undamaged since it was built 300 years ago. The most recent restoration was in the 1970s and 1980s, meticulously restored to its original state. Here, one can see the living scenes from the Tale of Genji that date back 300 years. Many of the photographs used in the Katsura Imperial Villa's guide were taken by photographer Ishihara Yasuhiro in the 1950s and 1960s. His photographs of the villa have been used in many architects' books. I particularly like the black and white series, which is like a quiet, structured poem.