“Is there a name in English for this kind of rain?” asked my Japanese host. “Torrential” I replied. “Good, torrential is perfect for visiting the Komyozen-Ji Zen garden. He was right. The garden, which is viewed from a terrace behind the Komyozen-Ji temple is best seen when the rain is dripping from the trees onto the mossy banks. It is without a doubt the most perfect, peaceful Japanese garden I’ve ever seen.
Although the garden is only yards away from the crowds of the temples of Dazaifu it is perfectly peaceful. And although the setting is a Budhist temple in my eyes this is a shrine to the Slow Life. This video captures a little of the atmosphere which we encountered on this rainy day. In the background is the occasional sound of a bell and the rhythmic beating of a drum, which puzzled me until I came across a Budhist service being held in the temple, a little of which is shown at the end of the video.
Jun 26
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About Slow Life
The idea of Slow Life is to take the principles of Slow Food, which are “good, clean and fair”, and extend them to life in general.
Here in the Lake District, the air is clean, the pace is slow and the atmosphere is calm. If we don’t grow food ourselves, we can buy it in friendly small shops, where you know the quality is going to be the best.
This blog is a celebration of the Slow Life, with forays into the world of design, music, the arts, gardens, and my particular weakness, Japan.
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