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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Forbidden Garden
The Hakuryuuen Garden, Kyoto Japan

moss-covered steps up to something with a small moss-covered roof

After Nils Ferry showed me Rengeji Temple the other day, we continued on my scooter up into the mountains north of Kyoto, toward Kibune and Kurama. I'd made the trip by car many times, but never by scooter, so I took the opportunity to check out a cool-looking location I'd only briefly glimpsed before as the car went past.

It turns out that it's a garden, with the big stone to the left of the steps giving its name as Hakuryuuen (白龍園).

Unfortunately, it's a private garden not normally open to the public, so I was limited to admiring what I could see from the road.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Denied
“Entrance To the Environs Most Honorably Refused”

It's a bit hard to see from this angle, but the moss-covered stairs seen clearly in the first photo are mid-photo in this one, above and behind the big central rock.

Searching around on the Internet, I found out that the garden is owned by a clothing company. They have a page with a few low-quality photos here.

Across the street was a small cottage done in the same tasteful manner, and I see now upon close inspection that the name of the garden is also on the door-side nameplate, so indeed, it must be the caretaker's place...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/9, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tasteful and Cozy
with a touch of modern
( no, that's not my scooter )

This garden happened to be next to an overpass for the Eizan Train Line, so he took the opportunity to get a quintessential train shot....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/9, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nils, Train, and Two Cameras
Old Olympus Pen film camera in left hand, Nikon D60 digital in right hand

Nils knows the Eizan Train Line well, and in the past has introduced me to many attractions that it can bring you to. One of its tracks ends at a great river play spot, and a few years ago he introduced me to some gorgeous temples in north-east Kyoto – Enkouji and Konpukuji – during the hight of their fall-color glory.

And speaking of the Eizan Train Line, fall colors, and this new (for me) garden Hakuryuuen, here's a shot from last year's Eizan Train line's “Fall-Foliage Tunnel” Lightup of the train approaching Hakuryuuen. It's there on the right, with the bridge seen in the photo above starting just past the curve ahead...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Passing By Hakuryuuen

That I could pull this specific photo from my library of 74,000 images is a testament the usefulness of both geoencoding your photos, and having a proximity-search function available. I knew I had photos from the foliage-lightup trip, but I didn't know whether any were at all near this garden, so I did a search in Lightroom with my proximity-search plugin, and was jazzed to find this photo taken only 120 meters away from the bridge.

(I actually had an image right at the start of the bridge, but since the bridge is surrounded by empty space instead of richly colored lighted foliage, this photo 120 meters prior is more compelling.)

Anyway, from what I can tell and imagine, I'm sure the garden is spectacular in the fall, but it's private, so I'll never know. Can't say I blame them... if I had such a garden, I'd probably keep it private too....