May irises, Kamigamo Shrine, armor, Tenryuji Temple, Aoi festival

Kyoto's Ohta Shrine iris garden in May

This blog post contains content (pretty deep content) about these topics: 1. The amazing blue irises of May, which are also a strong symbol of strength for boys (see FYI below for more on Japanese male symbols for May); including a walking tour around Kyoto’s oldest shrine, Kamigamo Jinja (I got married there to my Japanese wife in 1998! And yes I was wearing a black kimono; my wife’s Japanese wedding kimono was almost 50% of the entire wedding budget of US$ 25,000!). Kamigamo is one of the few shrines that has a giant lawn that you can lie on and picnic on; 2. The second topic of this post is all about samurai armor for boys and for samurai (and probably also ninja!). 3. Third, we explore the opulence and elegance of Zen Buddhist culture with a focus on Kyoto’s famous Arashiyama Tenryuji Temple (which borders the south side of the Instagram-wow Bamboo Forest!); 4. And finally we take a peak at the world’s oldest festival, Kyoto’s outstanding Aoi Matsuri (which spans the month of May; the big procession is May 15th!).

[FYI: May’s best-known male symbol are Japan’s iconic climbing-carp koinobori streamers. They may look whimsical, but they symbolize a serious hope that the sons of that household will be able to face adversity with strength, and to swim upstream when the time comes. Koinobori have been used in Japan since the 18th century. In the Edo period (1603–1867), samurai households began to decorate their homes with nobori and fukinuke flags, which were marked with mon (family crests) to symbolize military units. The nobori and fukinuke were then fused to become the first koinobori of Japan’s modern era.]

Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!

The best iris garden in Japan & Kamigamo Shrine area delights

If you have the time to see just one garden this month, visit the oldest, iris garden in Japan at Ohta Shrine, in the northern part of Kyoto. Famous for its thousands of rabbit-eared iris (kakitsubata) that bloom in its fragile pond, this shrine draws crowds. And shrines are open 24/7, so try to go early (first thing) or towards sunset to beat the crowds of May. Ok?

Ohta Shrine is in the greater precinct of one of Kyoto's most famous and largest Shinto shrines, Kamigamo Shrine

Kamigamo Shrine: One of Kyoto’s sacred, symbolic power points

Kamigamo Shrine is one of Kyoto’s largest and oldest Shinto shrines. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The area in and around the shrine is bright, positive and filled with a strong sense of natural power. Serving to protect Kyoto from natural disasters and epidemics caused by the curses of ghosts taking revenge on this world, the shrine is still one of the best places in Kyoto to experience and explore the world of ancient Shinto beliefs and motifs.

The precinct of this shrine is home to the God of Thunder and one can sense a strong power residing in the low hills covered with huge trees behind the main buildings where the clear, sacred waters of the Mitarashi stream well up. The God of Thunder is the protector of agricultural growth (and keeps away angry ghosts). This explains why there are more than 2,000 Kamo-related shrines throughout Japan.

The shrine also has large open areas of raked white sand and two perfect cones of sand in front of an elevated wooden platform called the Saiden. White sand or gravel in Shinto shrines is used to mark sacred ground. The cones are for moon viewing, and one can imagine the long, silent shadow of the cones stretching west and then east during the passing of the moon overhead. They are also symbolic of the two heaps of salt that are commonly used to purify the entrance to certain areas in Japan, including restaurants, bars, and homes. In a shrine, more than anywhere, purification is essential.

Leading to the inner, sacred part of the main shrine area, but roped off, is a bridge called the Hashidono. It is used only by the virgin princess of the important May Aoi Matsuri festival procession, which ends at the shrine. No one else has ever crossed this bridge!

Facing the shrine grounds to the south, stone bridges cross a canal lined with graceful willow trees and the thick tan colored earthen walls of the age-old compounds where the shrine priests or kanushi live. This timeless scene is one of the most beautiful in Kyoto.

The area boasts many old and very established merchant compounds. These large merchant homes are built in the machiya townhouse style, which means the shop is in the front for easy street access and the recessed interior is where the family lives.

As you leave the shrine you will notice people lined up in front of just such a shop. This is one of Kyoto's most tasty traditional sweets shops, Jinbado. (open 7:00 – 16:00, closed Wednesdays). This famous shop specializes in hot grilled rice cakes filled with bean paste. I'm not a bean paste fan, but I love the cakes from this shop. You can buy them hot off the grill to munch on while strolling around the neighborhood.

Then go east (to the left) on the road that runs in front of the shrine. On your right, you will notice a picturesque waterway on that runs along the street in front of some of the area's older residences. One of these, the Nishimura home, has been designated an historic house and is open to the public. (Open 9:30 - 16:30, daily). Ring the bell at the gate and then walk back to the main building, where the entrance fee is collected.

Across the street is the nationally famous Narita pickle or tsukemono shop called Narita (open 10:00–18:00, closed Wednesdays). To enter, step through the gate and into a garden divided by ancient steppingstones. As you enter the shop, you notice the large, exposed rafters supporting the high ceiling, a feature of Japanese old-style farm architecture of old. This particular building is over 280 years old although the business only dates back 220 years.

Turning left out of Narita, continue till you come to an enormous red-picketed sacred camphor tree. The waterway on your right will turn south from here and disappear but continue to walk along the shop-lined street for a few more minutes until you reach a traffic light. At the light, turn left and a few more steps will bring you to Ohta Shrine and its ancient iris garden. This garden first appeared in Japanese literature over one thousand years ago. Besides inspiring many a painting and poem, this flower has a medical use. After the flower has bloomed, the leaves are cut and bundled and added to the family bath to purge the body of impurities. The flower blooms twice, so you are sure to see several hundred in bloom anytime during the month of May.

Another scene from Kyoto Ohta Shrine iris garden.

The iris pond is so old, that it’s almost decrepit; a thousand years have passed from the time when this style of garden was the rage. The island in the center of the pond is known as, "the floating isle," adrift in a sea of gentle purple flowers. Benches are set up during this time and although there may be other people there, you will notice a distinct absence of commercialism.

The last stop on the walk is a 300 year-old sake storehouse that serves as a noodle and coffee shop. Located just 50 meters east of the iris pond, and marked by long brown banners, this complex is called Azekura (open 9:00-17:00, closed Mondays). A few steps up will bring you to the huge gatehouse. Pass through and turn right to enter the storehouse itself. Sliding open the door, you will see a cavernous entrance to the left of which is the shop. Have a seat and look over the reasonably priced English menu. The usual beverages are available, as well as a selection of buckwheat noodles (soba) that are made daily in the shop. The yamakake soba is a delicious seasonal choice.

This structure was transported all the way from Nara Prefecture, and reconstructed beam by beam without a nail, a tribute to ancient Japanese carpentry techniques. Upstairs is a folk craft museum which you are free to visit if that space hasn't been rented out for a special exhibition. Just remember to take off your shoes before you go upstairs. On the grounds are several interesting buildings that you can also look at.

The art of armor making in Japan: medieval craft!

On May 5th the Japanese celebrate Tango no Sekku, or Children's Day. Don't let the name mislead you, however, for this festival is really centered around boys. Girls have their own festival, called Hina Matsuri, which is held on March 3rd every year, when families with female children display a set of hina dolls, dressed in colorful kimono.

As May 5th approaches, families with male children display a different kind of doll. Called gogatsu-ningyo, it is not actually a doll, but a scaled-down version of the battle armor once worn by Japan's feudal warriors. The armor expresses the family's hope that the boy will grow up strong and fearless. And Japanese samurai history is full of such men!

Older Japanese houses have a large alcove (called a tokonoma) in the main room of the house where flowers, hanging scrolls and other ceremonial objects are displayed. On special occasions, other items are also displayed there as well, and this is where the gogatsu-ningyo are placed. In modern, crowded Japan, however, many homes and apartments do not have an alcove, so families usually display the armor in the male child's bedroom.

Impressive at a distance, a closer look at a gogatsu-ningyo will reveal even more to wonder at. The detail of the metalwork, the precision of the stitching and trimming, the absence of any modern materials such as plastic, all speak of painstaking craftsmanship. Although this armor is made only for ceremonial display, it is made for battle (if you could find a small enough samurai to use it!). Even the lacquer box used to store the armor is a work of art.

The production of one complete suit of armor, including helmet and storage box takes more than twenty separate craftspeople about one month. Various artists in the Kyoto area specialize in different components of the armor, such as metal fittings, laces, fabric, or kuwagata (the horn-like protrusions on the helmet). These are all then sent to a studio where they are assembled into the final suit of armor.

"Really good" armor can cost over one million yen (about US $6,000 in mid 2024). As you might expect, not everyone invests in a complete set. Many families buy just the helmet, or kabuto, and display only that.

During Japan's feudal era (1600-1868), with its caste system enforced by the military, only samurai or other high-ranking families would have been allowed to display such armor. Today while anyone can display a gogatsu ningyo, few people have the space or the money for a complete set!

Arashiyama’s Tenryu-ji Temple & Zen elegance

The main Tenryuji Temple garden, Zen perfect in many ways but not all!

One of the most famous Buddhist temples in Japan, the Zen temple of Tenryuji has a long and interesting history. Originally, Tenryuji was the opposite of a monastery: it started as an imperial villa built by Emperor Kameyama on some of the choicest property in Kyoto's Arashiyama district and was intended for the extravagant pastimes of a decadent court. Here Kameyama's grandson, the great Emperor Godaigo, grew up to become the erudite statesman and connoisseur that history remembers.

In roughly 1340, the powerful general, Ashikaga Takauji, worn down by the annoying and continual attacks of the warrior monks of Mount Hiei and Nara, sought to exploit the rising influence of Zen and establish Tenryuji as the headquarters for what he hoped would be a network of compliant Zen temples.

The warrior monks were not having it. In fact, it was only through the brilliant diplomacy of Ashikaga that the warrior monks abandoned their designs to disrupt the inauguration ceremonies of the new temple and returned to their pastoral retreats. From that time on, even though Ashikaga's dream of a Zen network never materialized, Tenryuji served as one of the eight chief temples of the Rinzai Sect of Zen Buddhism and has continued to baffle the intellect and feed the soul ever since.

Many foreigners know Zen through Thomas Merton's writings, or through the enormously popular "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Abroad, Zen is renowned for its spiritual practicality and wise wit.

One distinguishing feature of Zen is its total rejection of reliance upon the intellect. Enlightenment, or satori, comes only through a sudden burst of insight which, defying explanation and reason, joins one with all the workings of the universe, and reveals “wisdom in a grain of sand."

The garden of Tenryuji is one of Japan's most famous, the end-product of many epochs. Because rational processes are eschewed by Zen, the garden became the prime means of sublimating the self and advancing the soul. Tenryuji's garden is a hybrid of the large, sunny leisure gardens of the distant past, and the more austere, symbolic gardens of the religious eras. Its center is a large pond in the shape of the Chinese character for heart or spirit (kokoro in Japanese). Behind it and lifting it to the skies is a wooded mountain. Its murmuring hillsides stretch the lines of the garden until they blend seamlessly into God's own handiwork.

Thus, the pond becomes a metaphor for the soul, and the garden a microcosm of spiritual reality placed securely in the bosom of the natural world. In the pond of kokoro spirit, are three jagged rocks representing the tribulations of life. They can be viewed as a means of growth through suffering. A half-hidden waterfall supplies an endless infusion of power. The rhythm of the shifting foci and the quality of the diffused sunlight at the base of the mountain invite a meditative mood.

Tenryuji means "The Temple of the Celestial Dragon," and the ceiling painting of the celestial dragon in the first temple is awe-inspiring. Done in enormous strokes of ink, it is reminiscent of European early-modern art. This same strikingly modern quality is apparent in the standing screens depicting the Daruma, an ancient Indian Zen monk who meditated for nine years and realized that he had meditated his legs away.

The world’s oldest festival: Kyoto’s Aoi Matsuri

May in Kyoto, besides being the month in which the new leaves of spring burst forth throughout the valley, is month in which the Shinto-infused Aoi Matsuri is held, one of Japan’s largest and its most ancient. The festival consists mainly of a procession on May 15th of 600 people dressed in imperial court costumes of the Heian Period (794-1185), but there is a whole lot more to see and experience.

Aoi Matsuri is considered to be one of the oldest festivals in the world. Its origin goes back to the sixth century when a series of severe storms destroyed the all-important autumn harvest. A diviner determined that the deities of Kamigamo and Shimogamo Shrines were angry at the disrespect of the people. To quiet the gods, Emperor Kinmei (540-571) had special rites performed at Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines, Kyoto’s two oldest shrines.

The name of the festival comes from the fact that the dark and shiny spiked leaves of the aoi (hollyhock) bush are used in decorating the costumes. At one time, these leaves were believed to have all sorts of powers including protection against lightning, earthquakes, and ensuring easy childbirth.

Though the main focus of the festival has become the procession on the 15th, the festival really begins on the 3rd of the month with an archery display performed on horseback at Shimogamo Shrine. The archery is more than just a display of skill, it is also a purification ritual for the procession route later in the month. Three days before the official procession, on the 12th, the Mikage Matsuri (festival) is held between 9:30 and 16:00.

Departing in the morning at around 9:30 am from Shimogamo Shrine, the official festival priests proceed to Mikage Shrine, where they 'pick up' the gods and carry them on to Shimogamo Shrine. Upon returning to Shimogamo Shrine, a traditional dance and music performance is given. Then finally, on the 15th, the grand procession proceeds from the Imperial Palace and up and around to Kamigamo Shrine. The procession leaves the palace grounds around 10:30 and slowly (very slowly) moves toward Kamigamo Shrine (arriving around 15:30).