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# Salt and Pepper at Kennin-ji
- URL: https://www.gchicco.com/salt-and-pepper-at-kennin-ji/
- Published: 2025-12-15T11:20:42.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-16T19:37:47.000Z
- Author: Gianfranco Chicco
- Tags: Blog

If you asked me barely a month ago, I would have told you that I was feeling down because I hadn’t been able to return to Japan in two years. And then, thanks to a tip by [Erik](https://www.instagram.com/augustinpalm/?ref=gchicco.com) during a press tour in Dubai I was involved with, I got an invitation to attend the launch of the **SUI Collection** at the [Kyōto Geihinkan](https://www.geihinkan.go.jp/en/kyoto/?ref=gchicco.com) (京都迎賓館). Known in English by the unexceptional name ‘Kyoto State Guest House’, it’s actually a big deal. Located within the Kyoto Imperial Park, the Cabinet Office of Japan uses it to host foreign dignitaries.

The invitation was confirmed on a Wednesday and I flew out on a Thursday morning to make it in time for the event 48 hours later. (I’ll write more about that exhibition in the [The Craftsman Newsletter](https://www.gchicco.com/the-craftsman-newsletter/)).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-B.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-A.jpg)

Photos by Gianfranco Chicco

This is me in November 2025 at another special place, [Kennin-ji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennin-ji?ref=gchicco.com), a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto founded in 1202 CE. The sky was clear, the grounds busy with visitors but also peaceful. I sat in the engawa for 10 or 100 minutes. I felt just right, everything was as it should be, and I was filled with a sense of gratefulness to the Universe for making this unexpected trip to happen.

(Later I noticed my beard has really turned salt and pepper in the last few years and it was unintentionally matching with my scarf).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-03.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-04.jpg)

This is what I was looking at in the photos above. Photos by Gianfranco Chicco

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-01.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-02.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-13.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-14.jpg)

Kennin-ji is known by its gods of thunder and wind (Raijin and Fujin) and it's various dragons emerging from clouds. Photos by Gianfranco Chicco

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-03-2.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-04-2.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-07.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-08.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-09.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/d0/01d08198-2c67-4cdc-a041-7d7c7d50e709/content/images/2025/12/2025-Gian-at-Kennin-ji-by-Gianfranco-Chicco-10.jpg)

What I loved the most where the many views to admire the fractal details of the temple complex, including the Sengai-inspired circle-triangle-square garden. Photos by Gianfranco Chicco