Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)

Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)Hakusa-sonsō (白沙村荘)

Hakusasonso means "white sands villa", but don't expect to see anything like White Sands NP here. In fact, there is no white sands at all. This place is, however, a very quiet and peaceful garden located right next to the busy Ginkaku-ji temple and the 'Philosopher's path'.

This villa was the residence of Kansetsu Hashimoto (1883-1945), a famous painter and prominent member of the "Nihonga" style. He bought the land when he was 30. Today, who could dream of buying such a large piece of land in Japan when only 30 years old? Anyway, he spent the rest of his life here painting, and also collected several stone lanterns and Buddha's that can still be found here and there in the garden (garden which he also designed himself). Hashimoto-san was a big fan of Chinese culture, and travelled there more than 40 times, a big deal a hundred years ago. He also was a Tea Master, which might explain why there's two tea houses facing each other in the south part of the garden. Note that one tea house, the largest one, is currently being repaired, which means completely torn down and scrutinised bit by bit by men in lab coats somewhere in Kyoto. That's my excuse for not providing pics of the second tea house.

The garden and ponds are very nice, even if you don't have a lot of freedom of movements as there's only one path you can follow. There's two places where you can eat, one of which is a yudofu restaurant. The villa can also be used for weddings, AFAIK, so you may not be able to visit it if it has been booked.

Recommended for: Access: 1300 円

Nearby: Ginkaku-ji 銀閣寺 (440m), Hōnen-in 法然院 (480m), Yōji-ya よーじや銀閣寺店 (540m), Mo-an 茂庵 (590m), Shinyo-dō 真如堂 (680m), Anraku-ji 安楽寺 (680m), Reikan-ji 霊鑑寺 (710m), Sakuradanicho 47 桜谷町47 (770m), Takenaka Inari Jinja 竹中稲荷神社 (770m), Wachu-an 和中庵 (780m),...

External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, 京都風光, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map

Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, 南左京, Sakyo-ku, 白沙村荘, Hakusa Sonso Villa

Statistics: visited on 6 occasions, id 419, 13 photos (31 extra photos can be found in the archive).

Photos of Hakusa-sonsō:

View from tea room bay window, Hakusa-sonso villa
Tea room, Hakusa-sonso villa
Moss-covered water basin, Hakusa-sonso villa
Tea room balcony in Hakusa-sonso villa
Weathered Budah statue among green vegetation, Hakusa-sonso villa gardens
Newly built tea house in the Hakusa-sonso garden, Kyoto, Japan
Tsukubai water basin with ladle near a tea house of the Hakusa sonso villa, Kyoto, Japan
A collection of pine and bamboo ladles drying near the tea house of Hakusa-sonso, Kyoto, Japan
Flattened bamboo under the roof of a small gate in Hakusa-sonso gardens, Kyoto, Japan
Ikebana flower arrangement in Hakusa-sonsō, Kyoto, Japan