Kimono Forest

 

Arashiyama is served by a JR line and also a private rail line known as Randen.

Keifuku Electric Railway operates two line, with the Arashiyama Line terminating at Arashiyama. It is the last of the tram lines that used to criss-cross Kyoto.

The Arashiyama Station is the site of a large art installation known as the Kimono Forest.

The station underwent renovations, and as part of a plan to liven up the area at night, the Kimono Forest was built.

About 600 pillars  of a type of kimono design fabric called Kyo Yuzen stand within the station and all around the station and on adjacent land.

Nishijin-ori is a silk fabric for kimonos on which Kyo-yuzen dyes are painted directly. It is a technique invented by Miyazaki Yuzensai in 17th century Kyoto.

Designer Yasumichi Morita created Kimono Forest primarily to be viewed after dark, when led light inside the pillars make the colours much stronger and brighter, and create a unique illumination show.

Duringb the daytime it is still worth viewing.

There are several features that incorporate Arashiyama themes, including the Atago Dragon Pond, connected to the world-famous Tenryuji Temple near the station. It has a golden dragon sphere in the water where visitors leave coins and wish for whatever.

The fact that this is being marketed as a "power spot" is a clear example of how the term has been debased in Japan.

Other sections are a bamboo grove linked to the famous bamboo forest of Arashiyama, and a small garden with cherry and maple trees linked to Arashiyama being a  location famous for the viewing of both.

Obviously, if you arrive to or leave Arashiyama by the Randen then you will see the Kimono Forest. Worth a visit if you are nearby, which you will be if you come to Arashiyama. Probably worth a special trip in the evening whenit is illuminated.

The previous post in this series on Arashiyama was on the nearby Saga Arashiyama Museum of  Arts & Culture.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.