Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Approaching the Shodensanso Villa

by Jeffrey Friedl Wed, November 26th, 2014 10:49am JST (9 years, 5 months ago)

Entrance Path Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘), Uji Japan -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/8, ISO 110 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entrance Path
Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘), Uji Japan

As I mentioned in “Oppressive Crowds at the Shodensanso Villa” the other day, I paid my first visit to the “mountain cottage” Shodensanso (松殿山荘) this weekend. It's a half-hour drive south-east from my place in Kyoto, just over the border into Uji City.

From the makeshift parking area created for the special event, the path up to the villa looked like an empty river bed or canal.

Gate Appears around the corner -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gate Appears
around the corner

Impressive -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/320 sec, f/13, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Impressive

desktop background image of the entrance gate at the Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) in Uji Japan, near Kyoto -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60mm — ¹/250 sec, f/8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos

Desktop-Background Versions
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Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

Looking Back (some hours later) -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm — ¹/160 sec, f/10, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Back
(some hours later)

(even more hours later) -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
(even more hours later)

Anyway, after coming up through the gate, one can approach the main house...

Dual Entrances -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dual Entrances

Sub Entrance on the left likely the one used by the family on a day -to-day basis -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 31mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sub Entrance
on the left
likely the one used by the family on a day-to-day basis

Main Entrance on the right -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Main Entrance
on the right

Roof Detail -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Roof Detail

I didn't notice it at the time, but the lowermost tiles along the edge of the roof have the name of place embedded in them. I took a photo of similar tiles at another spot when I noticed it some hours later...

Personalized Roof Tiles -- Shodensanso Villa (松殿山荘) -- Uji, Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2014 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http://regex.info/ when used online)

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/60 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Personalized Roof Tiles

The characters are clearly the name of the place, 「松殿山荘」, backwards, but the form of the characters are quite different from normal. I recognize one (how they wrote 「山」) as being an archaic form, so perhaps they all are.

And speaking of odd ways to write the characters, the name of the place is also written large above the main entrance, as seen in this detail shot:

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos

Again, it's written backwards, but the form used is the normal modern form except for the one at the far right, which should be written 「松」, but instead has the left/right parts rearranged in an above/below way as「木公松」. I've never seen a “rearrangement” like this in Japanese, so I'm not sure what to make of it.

Continued here...

November	23rd,	2014	Oppressive Crowds at the Shodensanso Villa in South-Eastern Kyoto
December	8th,	2014	Inside The Shodensanso Villa, Part 1

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All 2 comments so far, oldest first...

That 木-over-公 character and also the reverse form, 公-over-木, are on record; the former is classified by zdic.net as a Japanese variant, while the latter is found in the こうきじてん:

http://www.zdic.net/z/1b/js/67A9.htm 枩: 同松（日本汉字）

http://www.zdic.net/z/1b/js/6780.htm 《康熙字典‧辰集中‧木部》枀: 同松。

i’d say the characters on the tiles are in (slightly archaized) 隷書体（れいしょたい） as can be gleaned by searching google for that term (http://goo.gl/wHsKjw).

Very interesting, thanks. I would have never guessed that it had a Unicode entry (枩). —Jeffrey

— comment by flow on November 26th, 2014 at 11:36pm JST (9 years, 5 months ago) — comment permalink

2014 11 27 13:30 Burlington, Ontario Canada. Not Thanksgiving Day, we have ours the second Monday in October.

An odd question perhaps. In this site and elsewhere too was there much if any damage inflicted on these photographic locations (specifically temples and gardens) during World Ware II?

And too is there mention of WWII anywhere on these photographic jaunts.

Kyoto was largely untouched by direct bombings during WWII, so there’s not that kind impact. But the war certainly impacted the lives of folks, though I don’t know how it might have impacted the guy who built this place. I know that iron was often confiscated (e.g. as mentioned in passing at the end of this post), but that probably wouldn’t have affected a place like this. —Jeffrey

— comment by Bryce Lee on November 28th, 2014 at 3:34am JST (9 years, 5 months ago) — comment permalink