Worshippers with red umbrellas were walking in front of the red Kinmoukaku Gate of Daitoku-ji

Kinmoukaku gate and umbrellas
Kinmoukaku gate at Daitoku-ji
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I was walking in the precincts of Daitoku-ji Temple in light rain. Daitoku-ji Temple is huge. I didn't pass any bicycles or cars as I walked through the precincts, so I felt as if I were walking through an elegant town lined with old buildings rather than through a temple complex.

As I walked on, a large gate appeared behind a hedge. It was the main gate of Daitoku-ji Temple, called Kinmoukaku. It is said that only the lower part of the gate was completed in 1529 and that Sen no Rikyu completed the upper part in 1589 and named it "Kinmoukaku". To repay his kindness, Daitoku-ji Temple enshrined a wooden statue of Rikyu. Therefore, the worshippers came to this temple had to walk under the statue's feet. It is said that this angered Toyotomi Hideyoshi and led to Rikyu's seppuku, suicide by disembowelment.

The red gate, standing quietly in the light rain, gave no hint of such a past connection. As I gazed at the gate, worshippers with a red umbrella walked past me. Their red umbrellas passing by the green trees looked as if it had been coordinated for a visit to Daitoku-ji.

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日本語
Apr 2021 IN THE CITY KYOTO

PHOTO DATA

No

11887

Shooting Date

Feb 2020

Posted On

April 25, 2021

Modified On

July 15, 2024

Place

Daitoku-ji, Kyoto

Genre

Street Photography

Camera

SONY ALPHA 7R II

Lens

ZEISS BATIS 2/40 CF

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