#tsuboniwa

[hi-technique]

[pocketseizure]

The Two Kings in Tears of the Kingdom

Tears of the Kingdom unearths the roots of Calamity Ganon in an ancient conflict between Rauru, the first king of Hyrule, and Ganondorf, a rival king who attempted to usurp him. In many ways, Rauru is characterized as a good king. He is noble, kind, and self-sacrificing, and he acts for the long-term benefit of the various groups of people living in Hyrule. In contrast to Rauru, the antagonist Ganondorf is an evil king who started a war because of his pride, ego, and greed.

Rauru and Ganondorf represent different styles of authority, both of which are grounded in Japanese fantasies of cultural identity. I’d argue that, in the end, neither king is fit to rule present-day Hyrule, which is why it’s appropriate that the game ends without any call to rebuild Hyrule Castle or the centralized government it symbolizes.

Rauru represents a golden age in Japanese culture when many arts now seen as “traditional” originated. This golden age is closely tied to Nintendo’s home city of Kyoto, which is associated with the culture of the imperial court before it moved to Tokyo in 1868. Because Tears of the Kingdom is a fantasy, the visual metaphors of Rauru’s character design are mixed, but his connection to a bygone golden age is tied to two symbols: the magatama jewels referred to as “secret stones,” and the kare-sansui dry landscape gardens of the Shrines of Light and the Temple of Time.   

The “secret stones” that Rauru gives to the six sages have the distinctive comma shape of a magatama jewel, one of the three sacred symbols of Shinto. These three symbols are as follows: a mirror represents clarity of heart, a sword represents the power to protect the weak, and a jewel represents the materiality of divine blessings. These three objects also serve as the regalia of the Japanese emperor, whose role was historically to perform ritual prayers and thereby serve as a symbolic bridge between the world of humans and the world of gods.

There is nothing sacrosanct about magatama jewels; at various street fairs and tourist areas throughout Japan, you can buy inexpensive polished quartz and jade magatama to attach to phone charms or friendship bracelets. As a result of its relative ubiquity, this particular shape of gem has both a historical and a pop culture association with being a magical stone bestowed by the gods on special and worthy individuals such as, most famously, the first Japanese emperor.

Along with his magatama “secret stones,” Rauru is associated with kare-sansui dry landscape gardens of the old imperial capital. Note, for instance, the front courtyard of the Temple of Time that Link visits at the beginning of the game:

The visual motif of raked white gravel punctuated by standing rocks also appears in various permutations within the Shrines of Light established by Rauru and Sonia. To give an example, this is what the player will see if they circle back behind the entrance of the “Rauru’s Blessing” shrines:

This style of dry landscape garden is frequently referred to as a “Zen garden” because of its association with large Buddhist temples in and around Kyoto. The most famous example of this style can be found at Ryōanji, in northwest Kyoto:

The philosophy of these gardens meshes well with the philosophy behind the Zelda series, which Shigeru Miyamoto has described as his attempt to create a tsuboniwa miniature garden for the player to explore. In the same way, dry landscape gardens represent a larger landscape portrayed on a much smaller scale. The rocks in the gravel are meant to represent islands on the ocean, or perhaps mountaintops rising above the clouds. Another common interpretation of these gardens – and one especially pertinent to Tears of the Kingdom – is that the rocks are the dorsal spines of a dragon swimming through the sky.   

Although dry landscape gardens have strong ties to Buddhist thought, they were primarily created by wealthy lords residing in Kyoto during the fifteenth century. This was a politically unstable era, and these lords needed to make a show of their wealth and cultural legitimacy. Unlike in China, where Chan Buddhism was largely anti-establishment, Zen Buddhism was the domain of the wealthy educated elite in Japan. Many of the rocks used in Zen-style gardens were imported from China and Korea at great expense, and lords competed to secure the services of celebrity landscape designers. Even today, the late medieval culture represented by dry landscape gardens is associated with the prestige of Japan’s former imperial capital of Kyoto.

Rauru is therefore associated with nobility and a certain air of sophistication. In the original Japanese script, he is unflaggingly polite and addresses everyone – Zelda, Ganondorf, and Link alike – with the sort of “clean” language associated with people of high social standing. To put it simply, Rauru is a perfect gentleman. He is the personification of the aristocratic virtues of the “traditional Japan” of the late fifteenth century, during which the wealthy filled the capital city with gardens while countless wars ravaged the countryside.    

In contrast, Ganondorf is a personification of the warrior culture of eastern Japan, especially as it was exemplified by the warlords who competed for territory outside the capital before the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Oda Nobunaga was the most notorious of these warlords. He was infamous for being aggressive but effective, and his military prowess and ruthless tactics have been memorialized in a wealth of stories whose lineage stretches to the video games of the present day. I believe that Nobunaga (or, at least, a commonly fictionalized version of him) served as a model for Ganondorf, who seeks to take advantage of the instability of the newly established kingdom of Hyrule in order to expand his own territory.

Like Rauru, Ganondorf’s character design contains mixed visual metaphors, but I think it’s fair to say that his topknot and costume are meant to evoke a samurai who has thrown off the kimono sleeve covering his sword arm as an indication of his readiness for battle. This is a style still worn by practitioners of Japanese fencing and archery, which are common extracurricular activities in many high schools. Appropriately, Ganondorf fights with a tachi katana, a naginata spear, and the body-length longbow used in kyūdō archery – all weapons associated with the martial arts of Japan’s medieval military elite.

As if to cement his connection to Nobunaga, Ganondorf speaks in period-drama “samurai Japanese” that demonstrates neither the elegance nor the poetry of his incarnations in previous games. He seems to lack both regret and awareness of the consequences of his actions, and he is concerned primarily with hierarchy, conquest, and the thrill of battle.  

As was arguably the case for Nobunaga himself, there is no endgame for Ganondorf, only scorched earth. Ganondorf has absolute faith in his own power, and he views other people only as subordinates or enemies. According to his value system, there is no merit in compromise; he simply takes it for granted that he will win.

It makes sense that the aggressively bloodthirsty Ganondorf is a villain, but it’s important to understand that Rauru is not a hero. With all his magic and culture and imperial splendor, Rauru failed to understand that the system of power he created could easily be turned against him. A nation politically defined by a central authority whose rule is justified through military conquest and the cultural chauvinism of “ancient tradition” is not sustainable, and the legacy of such a kingdom can only be tears.

This is why Hyrule Castle remains in ruins at the end of Tears of the Kingdom, and this is why the game’s central hub is a research station populated with people from all over the world. This is why Zelda doesn’t attempt to re-establish Hyrule as a kingdom, and this is why it’s so important to her to understand the reality behind the myth of the nation’s history. This is also why the grand mythology of Hyrule’s origin is far less important to the player’s experience of the game than individual acts of community building. The highlights of Tears of the Kingdom are Link’s work in facilitating a local election in Hateno, helping Lurelin recover from a disaster, and volunteering in towns facing environmental issues such as water pollution and climate change.

Both Rauru and Ganondorf are compelling in their own ways, but it’s thematically satisfying that both characters are gone at the end of the game. When Zelda meets with the regional leaders of Hyrule during the closing cutscene, they promise each other that they will work together to ensure a lasting peace that neither of the two kings made possible. The legacy of the past still affects Hyrule, but Tears of the Kingdom suggests that it’s the duty of the younger generation to understand where this legacy came from in order to avoid the mistakes of their ancestors and move forward in a more hopeful direction.

[oniwastagram]

📸古知谷 阿弥陀寺（京都市左京区）② Kochidani Amidaji Temple Garden, Kyoto 素晴らしいのはそのお寺の雰囲気…！ 中国風の山門をくぐってから拝観受付にたどり着くまでも林の中を徒歩10分ほどの上り坂。 少しクタクタになる頃に周囲が開けると、立派な石段・苔むした石垣・そして自然の滝・石段の上の懸造の建築が現れる。すごい…。 その参道に植った京都市天然記念物の“古知谷のカエデ”は樹齢800年以上と言われ、大原の中でも随一の紅葉の名所として江戸時代から知られていたとか🍁 庭園はざっくり分けて以下の5つ。いずれも現在の若いご住職が自らが主体となって現代に作庭／整備されたものだそう。 でも歴史的な空間に溶け込んでいる。 ■受付横の枯山水庭園。苔の築山が印象的。“古知谷のカエデ”の背景が絶品！（前投稿の3-4枚目） ■本堂前の枯山水庭園。 こちらもカエデを背景にしながら、古知谷の山を借景としたスケールの大きな枯山水。その傍らに懸造で建つ茶室“瑞雲閣”があります。角度からの大原方面の山々の風景が絶景。（前投稿の1-2枚目） ■宝物館前の坪庭（池泉庭園）（写真1枚目） ■客殿から眺める中庭。苔の中に植った山野草が主役で、その雰囲気が安らぎの空間という雰囲気で◎ （写真2-3枚目） ■光明殿の前の立石のある庭。苔むした石段の先には非公開の石窟が… 一つ一つは大きなお庭ではないかもしれないけれど、“古知谷のカエデ”の風景が最大限に活かされ、そして境内全体がまとう別天地のようなロケーションが素晴らしく全体が一つの庭園空間のような感じ…。 決してアクセスが良い寺院ではないけれどオススメしたい寺院。車の人もお堂から近くの駐車場ではなく山門前の駐車場に止めて、その参道を歩いて厳かさを体感して欲しい空間！ 京都・古知谷 阿弥陀寺の紹介は☟ https://oniwa.garden/konchidani-amidaji-kyoto/ ———————— #japanesegarden #japanesegardens #japanesearchitecture #japanarchitecture #kyotogarden #kyotoarchitecture #zengarden #landscapedesign #beautifuljapan #beautifulkyoto #japanarchitect #japandesign #jardinjaponais #jardinjapones #japanischergarten #jardimjapones #kyototrip #kyototravel #kyototemple #庭院 #庭园 #庭園 #日本庭園 #京都庭園 #京都旅行 #京都観光 #京都紅葉 #坪庭 #tsuboniwa #おにわさん (阿弥陀寺) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cph8nrqvHWA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bonbon152003]

Tsuboniwa TOKYO Lofi Lofi Hip Hop Mix upbeat lo-fi music to relax - study

[congiongangqua]

Tsuboniwa TOKYO Lofi Lofi Hip Hop Mix upbeat lo-fi music to relax - study

[letsthaiiiiifan-blog]

Tsuboniwa TOKYO Lofi Lofi Hip Hop Mix upbeat lo-fi music to relax - study

[cpbhomes]

https://www.designboom.com/architecture/alphaville-stacked-tsuboniwa-gardens-kyoto-12-07-2022/

[pix4japan]

View of the courtyard garden from the 2nd floor bedroom of Korekiyo Takahashi--the same bedroom where Takashi was assassinated in 1936 by ultra-nationalist army officers using a pistol and sword. ISO 1600 at ƒ/8 for 1/640 sec. #Japanesegarden #traditionalgarden #courtyardGarden #tsuboniwa #KorekiyoTakahashiHouse #koganeipark #坪庭 #高橋是清邸 #江戸東京たてもの園 #小金井公園

[nagcns]

TSUBONIWA

[hi-technique]

[jardinsolairepaysagiste]

Besoin d’un paysagiste pour la conception d’un petit jardin japonais de type tsuboniwa ?

[oniwastagram]

📸妙心寺 大雄院庭園 / Myoshinji Daioin Temple Garden, Kyoto ② 続き。そして客殿の襖絵🖼（＊撮影禁止）を描いたのが、江戸時代末期～明治初期の絵師・柴田是真（しばたぜしん）🎨 全72面にも及ぶ大雄院の襖絵は若かりし是真の初期の大作であり、また現存する作品の多くが海外に流出しているため国内の作品としても貴重（その他、トーハクや静嘉堂文庫美術館、佐野美術館など割かし有名な美術館・博物館が作品を所蔵）。 . また柴田是真が明治宮殿の千種の間に描いた“花の丸大天井”を現代の宮絵師・安川如風が襖絵として蘇らせる『襖絵プロジェクト』も見どころです！このGWに京都旅行へ来られる方はぜひチェックしてみて。 . 京都・妙心寺 大雄院庭園の詳細はこちら☟ https://oniwa.garden/myoshinji-daioin-temple-%e5%a4%a7%e9%9b%84%e9%99%a2%e5%ba%ad%e5%9c%92/ ーーーーーーーー #japanesegarden #japanesegardens #kyotogarden #zengarden #kyotojapan #beautifulkyoto #beautifuljapan #japanesearchitecture #japanarchitecture #japanarchitect #jardinjaponais #jardinjapones #japanischergarten #jardimjapones #kyototemple #坪庭 #tsuboniwa #bonsai #建築デザイン #庭園 #日本庭園 #京都庭園 #非公開庭園 #特別拝観 #京都特別拝観 #枯山水 #枯山水庭園 #karesansui #おにわさん (妙心寺 大雄院) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcsWMa8vQC3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[blognha]

Nhà ống 2 tầng ở Úc ứng dụng thiết kế kiểu nhà phố Nhật Bản để tối ưu không gian và tiết kiệm chi phí

Nhà ống 2 tầng ở Úc ứng dụng thiết kế kiểu nhà phố Nhật Bản để tối ưu không gian và tiết kiệm chi phí

Leichhardt Machiya được thiết kế dựa trên cảm hứng từ kiểu nhà Machiya của Nhật Bản để phù hợp với hình dáng mảnh đất và đảm bảo công năng tích hợp giữa nhà ở và kinh doanh. (more…)

[beautyoflive123]

in town terrasse.

[plantsrooms]

Kahitsukan - Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art

[yokaisoho]

#gojorakuen #五条楽園 #ateahousethatneverservedtea #hasu #蓮 #ochaya #お茶屋 #renovation #再生 #window #bathroom #courtyard #tsuboniwa #坪庭 #kyoto