I went to Uji on the day before attending tea ceremony lessons in Kyoto, and visited Mimurodo-Ji Temple and Kosho-ji Temple. I got off at Mimurodo station of Keihan Uji line, and walked along the Shizu-gawa River, a branch river of the Uji-gawa River. Despite it was in a midst of Golden week, it was not so crowded, and less tourists from abroad, compared with Kyoto-City.
Mimurodo-ji Temple was established by Konin-emperor about 1200 years ago. The temple is sorrounded by mountains, and one side of mountain is covered with coloful tsutsuji (azarea) and Shakunage (rhododendron) flowers. It seems that the full bloom has already passed, and ajisai (Hydrangea) have a lot of buds, waiting for blooming. Light green colored maple leaves are especially beautiful. I like red-colored maple leaves, but I like green ones more, because red ones finally fall down and I feel lonely, but green ones are fresh and lively. The new-born leaves were moving in the spring breeze, and I was so refreshed with them.
On my way to Kosho-ji Temple, I dropped to the tale of Genji Museum, and it was so informative and impressive, which I did not expected. I could know that Uji is an important stag of the tale of Genji (Genji-monogatari), and was beloved by aristocrats in Heian period (794-1185). Afterwards I visited Uji-Gami Shrine which is the world heritage site. In the shrine, there is a spring water, called Kirihara-mizu which is one of seven famous Uji springs. I washed my hands with that spring water in a cave, and seemed to get its power.
I walked along the Uji-river, and passed by Koto-zaka, and reached to the main gate (San-mon) of Kosho-ji Temple. That temple was established by Dogen zenji in 1233, and them transferred to the present place in 1648. It is famous for TV drama of "Kyoto-jin's Hisokana Tanoshimi" (Kyoto people's secret enjoyments) of NHK.. After worshipping, I passed by the monk's quaraters (sodo), and I could imagine the daily life of monks.
After returning to Tokyo, I spent a whole day for changing from Ro (sunken hearth) to Furo (brazier), as Furo-season starts from May 1. I closed Ro with changing Tatami mat, and prepared Furo. I also made Hai-gata (ash formation for a brazier), but I was shocked with the softness and lightness of Furo-ash, and it was so difficult to make the Hai-gata, as I did not do it during Ro-period from November to April for 6 months. I made mistakes with my slight wrong movements of ash-spoon. due to lack of my Hai-gata experience. Meanwhile, I felt that there are similarity between Hai-gata and monk's Zazen, because both of them need to fit one's mind and breeze. I made up my mind that I will do more practice to make a beautiful Hai-gata by the end of October.