KYOTO VISITOR’S GUIDE March 2021 has been published

The 353rd issue of KYOTO VISITOR’S GUIDE, March 2021, has been published in print as well as New Articles have been up online

This month’s features:

Message from KYOTO VISITOR’S GUIDE

— All you miss about Kyoto is here still vibrant and unchanged

Inheriting and Bequeathing

— Interview with Isao Kitabayashi, CEO of COS KYOTO & Founder of DESIGN WEEK KYOTO

Looking Back, Moving Forward to a Sustainable Kyoto

— “Midori Farm”: Making the Connections from Farm to Table

Going Deeper and Further

— Ancient Knowledge of Japanese Herbal Medicine from Nara

KVG Revival

— Reflections from our Past

Water Basin at Ryoan-ji Temple. Ryoan-ji Temple (UNESCO World Heritage) is home to one of Japan’s most famous rock gardens. An aristocrat’s villa was converted into a Zen temple in 1450. By the rear corridor of the main building, there is this stone water basin, or tsukubai which is, in its way, as philosophical as their world-famous rock garden. It has a square basin in the center which represents a particle used to complete the four Chinese characters on each side of it: top, bottom, right and left. Reading the kanji with the “ □ ” included each reads “Ware 吾 Tada 唯 Taru-wo 足 Shiru 知,” meaning, “I only learn to be content”, or “I am content with what I am/have.”

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Hoare, a gifted British travel photographer who has captured the beauty and life of Kyoto for over 25 years. To see more of his wonderful photos, visit his website: Kyoto Photo Gallery.