Autumn Colours of Kyoto : A Seasonal Portfolio
Kodansha International, 2009, 104 pages, ISBN: 9784770030931
Review by Helen McCarthy
It is almost impossible to take an unattractive picture of Kyoto’s temples and shrines, especially in autumn, when the changing leaf colours create such spectacular effects. This book, however, takes the true gift of photography – the art of snatching moments of transient beauty out of time and freezing them for eternity – to new levels.
A sensitive foreword by Jihei Ogata XI, Grandmaster of Ueji Landcape Design House, emphasises the role of the maple in both the parade of autumn colour in Kyoto and the Japanese consciousness of human transience. The three photographers, all Kyoto natives, give every tree its due, with evergreens, bamboo, cedars and shrubs rendered lovingly alongside the maple at forty-nine historic Kyoto locations. The five chapters are divided by equally beautiful images of seasonal motifs in man-made form – hair ornaments, pottery, fans, even delicately moulded and coloured sweets.
Each chapter covers one of the five traditional areas of Kyoto – East, West, North, South and Central – and lists the best-known sites for autumn colours in each area. All but one are represented by a single, exquisite photograph. (Nanzen-ji temple gets two.) The pictures take the reader on his own interior journey, but the book also makes it easy to plan more concrete expeditions. Every photo has a short description, with interesting snippets of information about the site and its history. The number at the beginning of the text links to detailed maps at the back of the book, giving the exact location of each site.
Within the basic theme of the beauty of Kyoto’s autumn foliage, the three photographers have taken a variety of interesting approaches. Some shots are framed from within a building, giving the sense of an Edo-era maple-viewing party. Others use the geometry of the location to focus attention on a view as its makers intended, with a flight of steps framed by lines of lanterns or a glimpse from the road through a gateway; or they allow Nature to frame the image, with a forest of evergreens setting off maples and ancient roof tiles. Details of a torii gate or stone lantern stand out against the glowing backdrop of leaves, emphasising and celebrating the endless inventiveness and perfect harmony of nature.
If you have never visited Kyoto, this book will make you dream of going there. If you have, it’s a wonderful reminder of the natural beauty that still abounds in and around the city. More importantly, it serves as a reminder of the beauty of transience, of the changing seasons of nature and of human life. These autumn leaves, frozen forever on film, capture a single season in a single year in the life of a city with almost fifteen hundred previous autumns and, one hopes, many more to come.