The Kyoko-chi Pond in the Temple of the Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji) in Kyoto, Japan.

Unlike the thousands of photos that thousands of visitors take every day at Kinkaku-ji Temple in northern Kyoto, the image of the Golden Pavilion is not central in the woodblock print entitled The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) by the Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797–1858). 
The master shows just a glimpse of the dazzling building, seen from the top of the hill behind it, filling the rest of the scene with water, rocks, trees and a mountain in the distance. 

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), from the series Famous Views of Kyoto, 

Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797–1858), about 1834

The lake, called Kyoko-chi Pond, or Mirror Pond, has a central role in this garden developed by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) as retirement retreat in the early 1390s. 
Large ponds and islands were characteristic elements in ancient Japanese gardens. Inspired by Chinese traditions, they reproduced small-scale natural landscapes imbued with references to the Taoist universe, to the Isles of the Blessed, mountainous islands scattered somewhere along the Chinese coasts where immortal beings live. Later, this vision merged with that of the Buddhist universe, with its nine concentric mountain ranges alternated with eight oceans and Mount Sumeru in the center. 

Dekame-jima and Irikame-jima

This the universe recalled by the Mirror Pond, where the mythological mountains are evoked by rocks and islands concentrated in the inner zone around the Pavilion. 
Some of them have the shape of turtles and cranes, auspicious animals and symbols of long life.  They are active elements in the Taoist universe: the turtles supporting the islands and  the cranes transporting the immortal beings. 

Ashihara-jima

In front of the fishing deck in the rear of the Pavilion, there is a Leaving Turtle Island (Dekame-jima) and an Arriving Turtle Island (Irikame-jima)  while, in the outer zone, a Crane Island (Tsuru-jima) and a Turtle Island (Kame-jima) are surrounded by small rock islands and a larger one representing Japan itself (Ashihara-jima). 
Islands are planted with pines, symbol of longevity and part of the legends. Pruned according to the traditional Japanese technique, niwaki, their branches seem sails unfolded to the wind. The oldest pine in the Garden, more than 600 years old, is called Rikushu-no-matsu. It was a bonsai whose branches were pruned and trained, with the help of a bamboo structure, to resemble a boat ready to set sail for the Mirror Pond in front of it.

Rikushu-no-matsu

The careful use of rocks and pruned trees of different shape and size creates the illusion of a wider space, an illusion that was probably best perceived from the lake. 
As the larger ponds in the ancient gardens, in fact, the Mirror Pond was intended to be navigated to appreciate its rich vegetation, undulated shores and different pavilions. Today, just the Golden Pavilion remains, originally built by the shogun in 1397 as a place to devote himself to arts and meditation, away from demanding court ceremonies and the busy town.


Unlike modern visitors, who are not allowed to enter the Golden Pavilion, there are people watching from its top floors in the print. The view from there must be magnificent, embracing with a glimpse the whole universe in a pond.  

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Kyoto november 2015

print:
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) from the series Famous View of Kyoto Utagawa Hiroshige, ca. 1834
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
https://ukiyo-e.org/image/mfa/sc134801