Artworks

Shoin, Katsura Imperial Villa

Artwork · Anonymous · 1620–1624 · building · Katsura Imperial Villa

The retreat of Prince Hachijō Toshihito (1579–1629) on the Katsura River south-west of Kyoto, built between 1620 and 1624 in sukiya style, with details recreated from his favourite book, the Tale of Genji (Genji’s last palace was also at Katsura). Around a lake with islands — one a replica of Mount Hōrai — stand a rustic fishing pavilion and the old shoin with its bamboo-floored moon-viewing platform, a smaller shoin and a music room; a new shoin was added in 1642. Surprising dissonances of shapes, textures and paths make the visit a sequence of discoveries. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 243–244, figs. 278–279. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.