Katsura Imperial Villa
Seventeenth-century imperial retreat of shoin halls, moon-viewing teahouses and a strolling pond garden inspired by classical literature.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto traces Prince Toshihito, adopted as heir by the ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi in fifteen eighty six and then quietly set aside three years later when Hideyoshi had a son of his own. It follows the poetry that consumed him afterward, especially a single line from the Tales of Genji about moonlight on the water at a village called Katsura, and the modest riverside villa he began building on that very spot once money allowed.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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