2013年4月25日木曜日

numerous fresh leaves


Being pleased to the season full of greenery I visited Kyoto last week.
I saw many tourists from foreign countries; some seemed to enjoy walking
and some rested beneath trees which had plenty of young leaves on them.

Among the green foliage I found some red maple leaves which have just opened up. 
Later I checked the name but there are too many to identify it as the same 
species. Do you know its name?




The main purpose to visit Kyoto was to see an exhibition held in Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (京都市立美術館).
The museum is just next to a great Torii gate of one of most famous shrines in Kyoto, Heian Jingu.
The overwhelming vermilion of the gate made contrast favorably with fresh green leaves around there.

As for the exhibition we could see Vincent Van Gogh' works which were painted during his sejourns in Paris( 1886~1888). At this time Gogh, being supported by his brother, played active roles in colorful works influenced by some artists especially impressionists and in establishing his own style on perspective and also planar composition influenced by Ukiyo-e from Japonism.

It is hard to believe now that his works didn't sell except one in his life.
It is said that he painted some shooting buds represented by wheat as symbol of his inner energy, and the following tableau caught my eye like a ray of hope among his secure jobs.

image from Web site

I also walked nearby the museum and stopped by a temple called Nanzen-ji which has a great two-storied gate.



Between the pillars of the gate the greenery landscape on the temple ground is seen as a tableau.
Some red leaves of maple trees are faintly observed as well.

I carefully took a photo not to bother the girl who looked doing meditation. 


憎しみか官能かふいに燃え立ちて<万緑叢中紅一点> 小島ゆかり(1956~ )

I don't know whether 

it would be hatred or sensuality

which flamed up suddenly

but I know that I'm a woman

amid numerous young leaves
Yukari Kojima 

15 件のコメント:

Varla Lee さんのコメント...

Lovely blog! Hugs from Italy.

Jen さんのコメント...

Such a wonderful mix of nature, history and culture. I love the temple gate and the picture of the girl meditating. The maple leaves are gorgeous!
Thank you for taking me along with you.

cosmos さんのコメント...

確かに春に紅葉しているモミジありますね。ネットで調べると出猩々のように見えますね。
小島ゆかりさんの歌、ちょっとドキッとします。新緑の柔らかな色が目に優しい季節になってきました。

haricot さんのコメント...

Varla

Thank you for visiting my blog.
Your icon is beautiful!
Have a nice weekend

Jen

Kyoto is the second oldest capital of Japan and it's a big city comparing to the oldest capital, Nara.
Thank you for your kind comment and have a nice and calm weekend.

cosmos

出猩々ですか。面白い名前ですね。能にくわしいと由来が分かるのかしら。
ゴールデンウイークが始まりますが、どこも人出がすごいでしょうね。

In My Wild Eden さんのコメント...

It's so nice to see leaves on your trees. We don't have any yet, but soon! That is such a beautiful poem you posted. I enjoyed it a lot. I would like to always be a woman among many leaves. I also like the Van Gogh you shared. He was my favorite painter when I studied art. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Dave King さんのコメント...

Well up to your usual impressive standard. A fascinating read.

stardust さんのコメント...

新緑の中の赤いもみじには、はっとしますね。よく見ると赤い花が咲いていたりして、紅葉ではないのがわかります。年中赤いもみじはノムラモミジを知っていましたが、このポストの赤いもみじはcosmosさんの書かれた山猩々のようです。

Tomoko さんのコメント...

うちの庭にも今真っ赤に紅葉しているモミジがあるんですが。少し淋しそうというか忘れられてるって感じがします。秋にはあれほど楽しまれる紅葉なのに・・・

私も小島ゆかりさんの歌、一瞬ドキりとしました。

私も、ゴッホと同じ時代に生きていたらどうだったかなと思います。古い物を見てるほうが安心してしまう方なので。

楽しいゴールデンウィ―クをお過ごし下さい。
Tomoko

sarah さんのコメント...

うちの庭の羽衣もみじと野村もみじも今赤い葉をつけています。もうすこしすると、緑になります。羽衣は繊細で好きなもみじです。うちの野村はお写真のより、太目です。
この間平安神宮へ桜を撮りにいった時、たまたまゴッホやってました。みたかったけれど、オランダでも見たし、疲れてたので、やめました。どんな絵が展示されてましたか?

Susan ~ Southern Fascinations さんのコメント...

A lovely post, beautiful photos... Your red maple brought an added smile. Here in the USA we call them Japanese Maples! My son and his wife have a beautiful specimen in front of their home. Now, I will always think of you when I see this lovely tree. Here is a link to info about our Japanese Maples here in the southern USA. http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/japanese-maple-guide-00417000073224/

haricot さんのコメント...

Lisa

Thank you for your warm comment as usual.
I'm not surprised to hear your studying art, because your posts are very artistic.

Dave

Thank you very much. Writing in English is not piece of cake for me, but enjoyable.
Have a good weekend.

stardust
山猩々と言うんですか?ありがとうございます。山猿みたいな意味合いですね。感じ出てますよね。

Red Rose

うちには以前千染もみじというのがあって年中赤(渋い赤でしたが枯れてしまいました。

生きている間に認められる芸術家は幸せですね。多くの鑑賞者がいたのでそのことを余計思いました。

sarah

私は逆に桜も済んだので平安神宮は外から拝観しただけです。
ゴッホの作品はそれほど有名なものはなかったですが、自分の画を確立するまでの努力が良く解りました。自画像はモデルを雇うお金がなかったから多いのだそうです。

Susan

Thank you for your comment and introduction of the site about Japanese Maples. It's interesting!
Have a nice weekend.

Rurousha さんのコメント...

Lovely photos, lovely poem. (I really like that poem!)

The photo of the young girl made me smile. I wish I could sit there for hours and hours ...

I've also tried to identify the various red maples that we can see in spring (as opposed to autumn), but my knowledge isn't good enough. They all look like "Palmatum beni otake" to me, but I'm not sure that it's the correct species.

Ah, never mind, they're all beautiful! :)

haricot さんのコメント...

Ru san

Palmatum beni otake sounds cute! And cosmos and stardust told me that might be Yama-shoujou which signifies mountain monkeys. As I grew in the country side where some monkeys were seen, some red faces beween branches of green make sense.

Thank you for your visiting. have a nice Golden week.

GABRIELA さんのコメント...

Oh, Kyoto!!! The Kateigaho International Edition had their latest issue all concentrated on Kyoto!
So many years have passed since my visit! The Heian Shrine was a favourite just because of its red colour! Something I find most fascinating!
And I love your photo of the girl sitting inside the gate! Very well noticed and captured!
Thank you for remembering me! I'm delighted with your visit at my blog.....which I neglected for more than a year. I'll make ammendments, though....
Gabriela

haricot さんのコメント...

GABRIELA
Thank you for your interesting comment on this post as well as on the previous one.
Nice to hear that you've visited Kyoto and enjoyed the sightseeing.

And thank you for inviting me to join in your group(friends), though actually I'm poor at handling PC and yet do not know how to do that(^^;)...