{"id":1019,"date":"2008-12-07T23:41:19","date_gmt":"2008-12-07T14:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-12-07\/1019"},"modified":"2010-11-27T21:23:20","modified_gmt":"2010-11-27T12:23:20","slug":"burning-relief-the-outside-walls-of-kyotos-murinan-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-12-07\/1019","title":{"rendered":"Burning Relief: The Outside Walls of Kyoto’s Murin’an Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 35 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWall, Burnt to a Crisp<\/span><\/span>\non purpose\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

The last time I posted a picture of a burnt<\/span> wall, it was due to an unfortunate fire<\/a> that\ndestroyed a nearby\nrestaurant<\/a>. This time is a bit<\/span> different.<\/p>\n\n

The quietly famous Murin'an Garden (\u7121\u9130\u83f4)<\/span> near my house in Kyoto has\noutside walls that are quite varied and interesting. Some of them, such as\nthose shown above, are wood whose top surface has been burnt to charcoal. Looking at a view<\/span>\nshowing the wall in situ<\/i> you can see that the burning is clearly purposeful..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNorth-Facing Wall of Murin'an<\/span>\nacross the street from the Kyoto Zoo\n<\/div>\n\n

While it's clear that the wood has been burnt intentionally, the reason\nis not clear. My first<\/span> thought – and still my best guess – is\nthat it was done to provide an inhospitable surface for wood-boring\ninsects. If anyone<\/span> actually knows, please leave a comment,<\/span> because I'd love\nto know the actual reason.<\/p>\n\n

Here's a closeup...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Kyoto is filled with so much stuff<\/i> that it's easy to pass by\nsomething every day and never notice it. I've been living a third<\/span> of a mile<\/span>\nfrom here for years and didn't notice the burnt nature of the wall until I\nhappened<\/span> to have while on a bike<\/span> ride with Anthony this past June (the same\nouting that produced Life\nStages of a Dandelion<\/span><\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

So, last week (five months later), I'm going<\/span> by the same small gardens,\nthis time passing their western wall just 20 meters from where I took<\/span> the\ncharcoal-wall shots, and notice that the wood is completely different...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 56 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWood Grain in High Relief<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

I was walking with Paul Barr to the Nanzen Temple (some shots of which\nappeared in last week's Recovering Photos from a\nCorrupt<\/span> Memory Card<\/a> post) and had just showed him the charcoal wall\nwhen we noticed the completely different (and completely odd) western wall.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChecking Out the Weird Wood<\/span>\non the western wall of murin'an\n<\/div>\n\n

I took a bazillion pictures trying to show the amazing relief –\nsometimes almost a quarter<\/span> inch – that made the surface of the wood\nmore like a cheese<\/span> grater than a wall.<\/span>...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 56 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFail<\/span>\ntrying to show the relief\n<\/div>\n\n

I finally hit on the idea of using a shadow,<\/span> so threw up my arm to cast\none, and achieved at least a level<\/span> of success...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 58 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRelief<\/span>\nfrom the urge to try to show the wood's relief\n<\/div>\n\n

You can also see that some parts are burnt, and that some burnt parts\nhave clearly been shed, but also clear is that this is a completely<\/span>\ndifferent process than was done to the wood on the other wall.<\/p>\n\n

The parts of the board sticking up are the knots and the wood's rings,\nso I'm guessing that the other softer parts of the wood were burnt more\n(and so more shed), or shrunk away over time, or.... er.... something. I\ndunno.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

I think it's pretty, so here are two more views....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 45 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKnotty<\/span>\n
Portrait-Mode Vertical Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\n1050×<\/span>1680<\/a>  ·  1200×<\/span>1920<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>2560<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

The wall wraps around, and continues east toward Nanzenji. Through the magic of\nmy Proximity-Search plugin for Lightroom<\/a>, I found<\/span> this shot showing the wall wrapping around, in the background....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnthony Riding Toward Murin'an<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The blue “one way” arrow points right at where Paul was standing in the\nshot above. Anyway, from inspecting the wear on the wall all the way along,\nand from noticing that there are occasionally sections of two or three\nslats that are of the charcoal variety, it's my guess that this “relief\nwood” is the original wall, and that the charcoal type is some later-date\nreplacement \/ repair.<\/p>\n\n

Murin'an<\/a> (\u7121\u9130\u83f4)<\/span>\nis a small<\/span> Japanese garden that dates from the late 1890s. It's small – less\nthan an acre – surrounded by city, but well hidden. I lived<\/span> nearby and passed by for years\nwithout even noticing it was there. But when you<\/span>'re inside, the city just\nmelts away and you feel as if you're a million<\/span> miles from civilization.<\/p>\n\n

Here are a couple of shots from 2007 when I visited<\/span> with some\nrecently-married friends, Kuan Fu and Verena...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>30 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 160 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJust Inside Murin'an<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 40 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nArborist At Work<\/span>\nMurin'an Garden, Kyoto Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

More shots from that outing are on my KFC and Verena in Kyoto<\/a>..<\/p>\n\n

I don't know whether anyone will actually find them useful, but I've\nprovided desktop-background versions of four of the shots above... see the\nlinks under their respective photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last time I posted a picture of a burnt wall, it was due to an unfortunate fire that destroyed a nearby restaurant. This time is a bit different.<\/p>

The quietly famous Murin'an Garden (\u7121\u9130\u83f4) near my house in Kyoto has outside walls that are quite varied and interesting. Some of them, such as those shown above, are wood whose top surface has been burnt to charcoal. Looking at a view showing the wall in situ you can see that the burning is clearly purposeful..<\/p>

While it's clear that the wood has been burnt intentionally, the reason is not clear. [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,2,6,25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}