[Katsura Imperial Villa and Nakamuraken]

A few months ago, I made a reservation and visited Katsura Imperial Villa, located in Katsura, where aristocrats used to have their villas in the Heian period (794-1185). Although the season was almost over, I was welcomed by beautiful and vivid autumn leaves. Katsura Imperial Villa was built by Prince Toshihito, the first of the Hachijonomiya family, the younger brother of Emperor Goyozei, as a villa for the imperial family in Katsura, located in Nishikyo-ku, southwest Kyoto. Like the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Shugakuin Imperial Villa, the Kyoto Office of the Imperial Household Agency has jurisdiction over the garden, which is said to be the culmination of the beauty of Japanese gardens.

Because it is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Agency, Katsura Imperial Villa is rare in Kyoto in that permission to visit is required. Reservations can be made through the Imperial Household Agency's website, but I was surprised to see that it was almost fully booked when I saw it about two and a half months before this visit, partly because it was the season of autumn leaves. For about an hour, a guide will take you around the garden and give you a full tour about the origin, history, and highlights of the architecture. The course was a bit more strenuous than I had imagined from the description of the garden tour, with narrow bridges and ups and downs, so I felt satisfied and a little accomplished at the end.

There are four tea rooms on the large site, including the representative “Shokintei,” “Shokatei,” “Shoiken” for enjoying coolness in summer, and “Gepparo” for moon viewing in autumn, and there is a boat landing near them. How elegant it must have been to imagine how they went to the tea ceremony while rocking on a boat. Katsura has been known as a moon viewing spot since the Heian period (794-1185), and Katsura Imperial Villa has many moon-related structures and decorations, such as the “Gepparo,” “Tsukimidai,” “Fugetsu” water bowls, “Kagetsu” frames, and “Tsukiji” pulls. It would be nice to view the moon once from the “Tsukimidai,” which was built solely for viewing the moon, but unfortunately, it is not usually open to visitors at night, and a “Kangetsukai” is held once a year in the fall.

After leaving Katsura Imperial Villa, walk about 5 minutes to Nakamuraken, a long-established Japanese confectionery established in 1883, which has been in Katsura for over 140 years. All of the sweets are made in Japan, using carefully selected ingredients such as Hokkaido adzuki beans and Bicchu white adzuki beans. The specialty is “Mugitemochi,” a half-moon-shaped rice cake made with freshly pounded rice and sweet bean paste sandwiched between two pieces of rice cake and sprinkled with soybean flour. Incidentally, it is said that the name “Mugitemochi,” came from the fact that it was delivered to the fields during rice planting for snacking, and wheat was received in exchange for payment.

In the pleasant restaurant with spacious seating and outside light, I had the mitarashi dango and the white miso ozoni, which I had longed for. The white miso is made by Yamari Shoten, a miso shop that is a purveyor to chefs and confectioners, and it has a simple, clean appearance with round rice cakes and sweet potatoes. It is served with freshly shaved dried bonito flakes to your liking. The aroma of dashi and the mild sweetness of white miso soak into your cold body. Mitarashi dango, grilled by hand with binchotan charcoal, was warm and fragrant, and the rice cake I brought home was thicker than I expected and had a strong presence, allowing me to fully enjoy the deliciousness of the ingredients themselves.

It was a great autumn day to enjoy the Katsura area. I heard that it will be crowded again during the cherry blossom season, so I recommend making reservations as soon as possible.

Katsura Imperial Villa
https://kyoto-gosho.kunaicho.go.jp/en/katsura-rikyu
Imperial Household Agency Visit Guide
https://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/about/rikyu.html
Nakamuraken
https://www.nakamuraken.co.jp/