Core Kyoto S2016E02 - Suiseki: A World of Understated Beauty Within Natural Stone

Suiseki is the appreciation of natural stone shapes using poetic imagination to visualize magnificent mountain, island or waterfall landscapes. This pastime arrived from China in the late 1100s and spread among Kyoto aristocrats and Zen monks. Suiseki's beauty lies in the stones' understated simplicity and becalming quality. The Seven Stones of Kamo found in the Kamo River basin are prized in suiseki circles. Discover the profound world of rock appreciation that evolved in the old capital.