Tag: Kyōko-chi

Interview at Francejapon.fr

Posted on by Sami

A couple at KinkakujiI was recently interviewed by a French travel site called France Japon and I’m happy to say that the interview has now been published. It concentrates mostly on my photography and my relationship with Japan so it might be of interest to the readers of my blog. Unfortunately it’s all in French, but I’ve sent them some photos from Japan that I haven’t published anywhere else yet, so go take a look even if you don’t speak French!

You can find the interview here: http://www.francejapon.fr/france-japon-a-la-decouverte-de-sami-hurmerinta-un-photographe-de-talent

The mirror pond at Kinkakuji

Posted on by Sami

The mirror pond at the Kinkakuji temple

Here’s one more image of the Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto. I wanted to post this separately as I felt that the Kyōko-chi pond (the Mirror Pond) deserved attention. The reason the pond, designed in the Muromachi period, is called the name Mirror pond is that it reflects the Golden Pavilion. It contains 10 small islands, which according to Wikipedia represent famous places in Chinese and Japanese literature, and it seems that the surroundings of the pavilion were built according to descriptions of the Western Paradise of the Buddha Amida, the largest islet representing the Japanese islands.

Even though you weren’t interested in the history of the pond, there’s no denying that the golden pavilion wouldn’t be half as spectacular without the carefully designed pond that really makes the building shine.