桜の塔 · Pagoda in Blossom Garden

THE PAGODA · 五重塔

• five tapering storeys, plaster walls, vermilion corner posts & beams
• stepped tiled roofs with upturned gilded corners & onigawara eave-ogres
• white chidori-hafu pediments with gold crests on roofs 2 and 4
• bronze sorin spire: nine gold rings, wind chimes, water-flame, jewel
• balcony railings, lattice windows (candle-lit), gold door fittings, hanging temple bell
• stone plinth, stairs flanked by twin lanterns, perimeter fence

THE GARDEN · 庭園

• rocky hill with a fall feeding the koi pond; surface shimmer & lotus
• red arched taiko bridge with turned rail posts over the brook
• waterwheel turning on the stream; deer-scarer (shishi-odoshi) that fills and tips
• karesansui dry garden: raked sand rings around mossy boulders
• 13 stone lanterns, gate & eave paper lanterns, glowing fire-boxes
• tea house with shoji screens, noren curtain, chimney smoke, well & bucket
• zen entrance: timber gate through the wall, vermilion torii on the axis
• mini Inari shrine behind the pagoda with two fox messengers
• board walk, benches, stepping stones, hedged wall, snow-capped mountains

FLORA & FAUNA

• 5 cherry trees shedding ~700 drifting petals; maples, ginkgo, pine, willow, bamboo grove
• azaleas, camellias, peonies, irises, lavender, poppies, moss, mushrooms, reeds, cattails
• four koi circling the pond, a turtle basking, two red-crowned cranes pecking
• drifting clouds, birds wheeling over the spire, fireflies after dark, stars at night