The Empress: Her tea house, her lake and her garden
I see the lights on in Empress Shōken’s tea house, and I can’t help but feel naughty, as if I were spying on someone. But I imagine that if Empress Shōken discovered me outside her tea house, instead of getting upset, she would invite me to drink tea with her. Because I think she was indeed a generous soul.
I just imagine her (Empress Shōken) sitting there in her tea house, looking at the little lake in front of it (the tea house), letting her maids entertain her, and ask them to leave as soon her husband arrives. Of course, nothing of this is written anywhere. I just like imagine it.
A few shots of the empress’s lake little lake, where the water lilies imperceptibly move with the soft afternoon breeze.
A shot of the tea house from the little lake
I distractedly (without paying attention) walk through the garden and, as always, my feet take somewhere I didn’t mean to go and I arrive to Kiyomasa-Ido well, which is famous for the purity of its water.
But I am afraid it’s time to leave, because I am the only person in the garden now. Or maybe I’ll just stay a little bit longer so I can make Empress Shōken company, at least for a little bit longer.
NOTE: Although, Meiji jingū gyoen (Meiji jingū inner garden) existed before the construction of Meiji Shrine, according to the Meiji Jingū gyoen brochure, I always think of the garden, as Empress Shōken’s garden, because the tea house that adorns this secret garden was built especially for her.
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Originally published at consult-culture.com on September 7, 2017.
