※日本庭園のYouTube動画を昔作ってました(動画は削除済)。その時の庭園紹介スクリプトです。日本語・英語でスクリプト書いてます。英語は、ネイティブの添削済。

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Hello. Today, I am at Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto. A self-proclaimed Japanese garden girl, I will do my best to introduce the highlights of this garden as an amateur reporter.

こんにちは。今日は京都の龍安寺に来ました。日本庭園好きの自称・庭女子の私が、素人なりにここのお庭の鑑賞ポイントをお話させて頂きます。

Ryoan-ji Temple is a Zen Buddhist temple located in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto. You can find a strolling garden, which has rich natural garden with a pond and a dry landscape garden that became famous around the world through the visit of the British Queen Elizabeth II. Today, let me introduce Ryoan-ji Temple, a temple full of charm.

龍安寺は、京都市右京区にある禅宗寺院です。ここには、自然豊かな池泉回遊式庭園と、イギリスのエリザベス女王２世が拝観されたことで世界的に有名になった石庭があります。その他、魅力がいっぱいの龍安寺を今日は僭越ながら私にご紹介させて下さい。

First, let's observe the paved walkway leading to the gate. It has a very stylish design, with three rows of ashlars arranged in the middle and natural small stones placed on the sides of the ashlars. In most gardens, you can see unique paved walkways each with their own different designs. These paved walkways are so fascinating that you can even find specialized books describing the differences among them, so you should definitely check the walkway here out as one of the highlights of the garden. In this approach, the tree branches cast shadows down on the walkway, creating quite the dramatic atmosphere.

まず、門まで続く敷石です。切石を真ん中に３列配し、両脇に色の異なる自然石を配した、とてもおしゃれなデザインになっています。敷石は、どこの庭園でも一味違うデザインにしているところが多く、敷石だけに特化した専門書も出ていることから、庭園の鑑賞ポイントのひとつとして、とてもおススメです。このアプローチは、のぞき込むように枝垂れた木々が敷石に影を差し、お庭までの道のりをドラマチックに演出しています。

This temple gate with a gabled roof is called "Yakui-mon" and was built during the Edo period (1603-1868). The gabled roof is shaped as if it were a book laid open above the gate. The Yakui-mon supports the roof by four pillars and has a small wooden door on the side. It is an authentic gate in the style used for samurai residences since the Muromachi period (1336-1573). It is said to be the second most prestigious style of gate in Japan. By the way, the first is a big tower gate called "Yagura-mon," which you can find in Japanese castles.

そして、最初にくぐるこの山門は、江戸時代に建てられた切妻造の屋根の薬医門です。切妻造とは、本を広げて載せたような形の屋根のことで、薬医門とは、４本の柱で屋根を支え、脇に木戸をつけた門のことです。室町時代から取り入れられた武家の正式な門の様式で、櫓門の次に格式が高いとされています。

As you pass through the gate, you can enjoy an approach with beautifully arched trees. On your left side there is a large pond called "Kyoko-chi." Originally, Ryoan-ji Temple was a noble villa constructed near the end of the Heian period (794-1185), and aristocrats would play instruments and listen to music on boats floating in the pond. In addition, many mandarin ducks gathered here during the Edo period (1603-1868), so it was called the mandarin duck pond. In modern days you will still be able to see some ducks, swimming gracefully.

門をくぐると木々のアーチが美しいアプローチです。左横には鏡容池という大きな池が広がります。龍安寺は、もともと平安時代・末期、徳大寺家の別荘でした。当時は、この池に貴族が舟を浮かべ、音楽を奏でたりなどして遊んでいたそうです。江戸時代には、おしどりがたくさん集まるので、おしどり池として有名になりました。今はあひるや鴨が優雅に泳ぐ姿が見られる池となっています。

Additionally, if you walk up the approach for a few minutes, you will find a fence in what is known as Ryoan-ji style near Sansho Bridge. This style, which was first devised for use at Ryoan-ji Temple, is made by knitting splitted bamboos in the shape of a diamond, and it is often used for curved and long-distance approaches. This type of bamboo fence is beautiful both viewed from the front and the back.

さらに行くと三笑橋があり、その先に龍安寺発祥の龍安寺垣があります。龍安寺垣は、割った竹をひし形に編んで作られ、カーブや長い距離の参道によく用いられる、表から見ても裏から見ても美しく見える竹垣です。

I still have a few minutes before I reach the dry landscape garden, so I will use it to introduce the history of the temple. As I mentioned, the temple was originally a villa of Saneyoshi Tokudaiji during the Heian period. In the following Muromachi period, Katsumoto Hosokawa built Ryoan-ji Temple here. Hosokawa was working in a supporting position to Shogun Yoshimasa Ashikaga, who you may know for building Ginkaku-ji (the Temple of the Silver Pavilion) during the Muromachi period. However, it was destroyed in the Onin War and was rebuilt by Hosokawa's son Masamoto during the Edo period--yet it burned in a fire again. After that, it was again rebuilt, but next it fell into decline through the anti-Buddhist movement called “Haibutsu Kishaku” during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

石庭までまだ少しありますので、お寺の歴史を簡単にお話します。先にお話しした通り、平安時代は徳大寺実能の別荘でした。室町時代には、銀閣寺を建てたことで有名な足利義政を補佐する管領職をしていた細川勝元が、この場所に龍安寺を創建しますが、応仁の乱で焼失してしまいます。江戸時代になり、勝元の子の政元によって再興されるも、また火事で焼失してしまいます。そのあと、妙心寺の塔頭であった西源院の方丈を移築したりなどして、また再興されますが、今度は明治の廃仏毀釈によって衰退し始めます。

In 1975, Queen Elizabeth II of England visited Ryoan-ji Temple because she wished to see its garden. After she saw the dry landscape garden, she was asked for her impression, and answered "I don't understand." This exchange was picked up by the international media, and the temple became famous all throughout the world. Thanks to the media sensation, a conservation movement went on in Japan, and the temple was listed as one of the World Heritage Sites in 1994.

そんな折、昭和後期、イギリスのエリザベス女王が、ご自身の希望で拝観されます。石庭を見た女王は、感想を求められ、「分からない」と答えたことがメディアで世界に発信され、世界中に龍安寺の名が知れ渡ることとなりました。そのおかげで、国内でも保護活動が起こり、さらに平成には世界遺産に登録されるに至りました。

Look! You can see the entrance. The combination of the stone stairs with the Ryoan-ji fence feels very dramatic to me because of the stylish way the shining green of the trees reflects on the stairs.

入口が見えて来ました。入口までのこの階段もおしゃれな石畳に龍安寺垣が添えてあり、木々の緑も光って、とてもドラマチックに感じられます。

Well then, this is the dry landscape garden, or zen garden. The garden is located on the south side of the monastery called "Hojo," and its ground-floor area is about 248 square meters. The area is filled with white sand, and 15 stones are encrusted on the sand. The stones are separated into groups of five, two, three, two, and three respectively from the left side. In addition, the garden has a downward slant toward the top left in order to create a sense of depth as well as for the practical purpose of drainage.

では、お待ちかねの石庭です。この石庭は方丈の南側に造られ、油土塀で囲まれた75坪の敷地に白砂が敷かれ、１５個の石が点々と配されています。石は、左から５つ、２つ、３つ、２つ、３つのグループでまとめられており、奥行き感と実質的な排水を目的に左奥へ傾いた形で造られています。

The garden architect’s name, the date of creation, and the meaning of the garden’s design have not been clarified yet--all that can be said is that it is a dry landscape garden in a flat style that is rather mysterious. On the second group of stones from the left, there are two engraved marks of “Kotaro” and “Hikojiro”, which are assumed to represent the names of two unknown personages involved somehow in the gardening process.

作庭者、作庭時代、作庭意図はまだ解明されておらず、ミステリアスな平庭式枯山水となっています。左から２番目の石のグループには、小太郎と彦二郎という名前の刻印があり、この二人が作庭に関与しただろうと考えられています。

There are various discussions as to the correct interpretation of the garden’s style, but my favorite theory is that it is supposed to represent the idea of incompleteness. This garden has 15 stones, but was designed so that you can see only 14 stones no matter what angle you view it from. The number 15 represents perfection in Japan because the moon becomes a full moon in 15 days--so in this context, the number 14 represents imperfection or incompleteness. Therefore, I think that the garden was created specifically so that we are unable to see more than 14 stones at any one time. I think that displays a unique Japanese sense of beauty, because Japanese aesthetics have always cherished the idea of the art object left slightly imperfect or incomplete.

現在の解釈では、七五三説、虎の子渡し説、龍説など多様に議論されていますが、私が解釈として一番気に入っているのは、不完全を意味しているという説です。この石庭は、１５個の石があるものの、どこから見ても１４個しか見えないように工夫されています。月が１５日間で満月となることから、１５は完全を表す数字なので不完全を意味するように、どこから見ても１４個の石しか見えないように造られているのではないでしょうか。不完全なものを美しいと愛でる日本人ならではの感覚と言えます。

The walls surrounding the dry landscape garden are made of soil mixed with rapeseed oils. I think that the beauty of the garden is accentuated further by the rustic style of its walls. Originally, the roof of the wall was made of tiles called "Kawara", but it was changed in the 1970s to its current style, made by stacking multiple layers of thin wooden boards, which is called "Kokera-buki.”

石庭を取り囲む塀は、菜種油を混ぜて練った土でできており、ひなびた趣が石庭の美しさをさらに際立たせています。塀の屋根は、もとは瓦だったそうですが、昭和後期に杮葺きに変更されました。木の薄板を何層にも重ねて作った屋根となっています。

There is a gate next to the garden called "Chokushi-mon" for the emperor's messengers to enter. This gate has high historical value and is made in a wood shingle style called "Karaha-buki" featuring mountain-shaped roofs with inverted curves. The Queen entered through this gate during her visit.

石庭の横には、勅使門、つまり天皇の使者のための門があります。この門は唐破風造りの杮葺きで、屋根の部分が反転曲線をもった山形になっています。エリザベス女王は、こちらの門から入り、石庭をご覧になったそうです。

Please make sure to check out the stone washbasin called "Tsukubai,” which is placed in the lawn before the tea house "Zoroku-an." It is shaped like an ancient Japanese coin and is of a type called the Ryoan-ji type only found in Ryoan-ji Temple. The stone washbasin was donated by Mitsukuni Tokugawa (1628-1700), the grandson of the first Shogun of the Edo period Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616).

そして、見忘れてはいけないのが、こちらの蹲踞です。茶室の臓六庵の露地に置かれています。銅銭の形になっており、龍安寺型手水鉢と呼ばれます。水戸黄門として有名な徳川光圀によって寄進されたものです。

On the surface of the stone basin are written the kanji meaning “Knowing contentment; I only learn to be contented.” The phrase is a Buddhist teaching, and its import is that only people who experience satisfaction are able to reach serenity; those with unfulfilled desires will have restless hearts. I think that the phrase is placed in the garden as a zen teaching suggesting to us to be satisfied with only being able to see 14 stones in the garden. It is said that a zen teaching can not be taught by words, but is passed down from heart to heart. This method of teaching is expressed in the proverb, "Communication without words, a lesson without teaching." I personally believe that the stone washbasin was created in that same Buddhist spirit .

表面には、中央の水穴の四角をうまく使い、「吾れ、唯足ることを知る」と書かれています。その意味は、「満足を知りなさい」という仏教の教えで、足ることを知る人は心穏やかになり、知らない人は心が乱れるとされています。したがって、先ほどの石庭が、１４個の石しか見えないのはそれで満足しなさいという禅の教外別伝、不立文字なのではないでしょうか。禅は、文字や言葉では伝えられず、心から心へ伝えるものとされています。この手水鉢は、石庭の解釈にそって造られたものではないでしょうか。

The stone washbasin here is a replica, and the real one, alongside the tea house "Zoroku-an,'' is not open to public viewing. By the way, the name "Zoroku-an" represents a Buddhist teaching "Rokkon Seijyo", which encapsulates a state of mind that is clear and calm, without any anxiety or selfishness.

ちなみに、こちらの手水鉢はレプリカで、本物は非公開となっています。茶室・臓六庵も非公開ですが、その名前は仏教の「六根清浄」からつけられています。煩悩や私欲から遠ざかり、清らかで汚れのない境地を意味します。

Finally, I will walk along the pond toward the exit. Actually, there is another beautiful moss garden at the west side of the monastery, as well as a street with a wonderful landscape around the pond, but I can not introduce them today because this video has already gotten too long. Hopefully I will get another chance in the future.

最後は、鏡容池に沿って出口まで歩きます。本当は、方丈の西側に苔が美しい庭や、池の周囲にも心癒される風景の通りなどがあるのですが、長い動画になってしまったため、今回は割愛させて頂きました。

Today, I’ve told you about the Japanese garden at Ryoan-ji Temple. In my ordinary life, I live with worldly desires and can't always satisfy myself. However, I was able to rest my heart while at Ryoan-ji temple, so my mind became clear and calm.

今日は、龍安寺をご紹介しました。日頃、煩悩にまみれ、現状に満足できずにあがいてばかりの私も、ここにいる間だけは清らかな心となり、お庭を愛でることができたように思います。

I especially like the street around the pond. When I walk the path, I can see the pond appearing or disappearing from between the trees. Seeing the pond dressed up with lotus flowers, beautifully reflecting a blue sky and white clouds, I feel as if my mind has been cleansed. I hope that all of you watching this video will also feel purified, and that you will be able to have a peaceful week.

特に私は鏡容池の周りの散歩道が好きなのでいつも、ゆっくりゆっくり歩を味わうように歩きます。木々の間から、現れては消え、消えては現れる今日の池は、蓮の花で着飾り、雲を映し出して、まるで私の心を洗ってくれるかのようです。この動画を見て下さった皆さんの心も同様に浄化され、心穏やかな1週間がまた過ごせますように、、、願っています。

Thank you.