Ginkaku-ji Temple

Interesting facts

Only two buildings survive from Yoshimasa's own time: the Kannon hall and the Tōgudō, his private chapel built in 1486 and now a National Treasure.

The Tōgudō contains the Dōjinsai, a four-and-a-half-mat study with the oldest surviving built-in shelves and desk of the shoin style.

The Dōjinsai is traditionally regarded as the prototype of the four-and-a-half-mat room later standard for the Japanese tea ceremony.

Scientific analysis during the restoration confirmed that no silver leaf had ever been applied, and it revealed traces of coloured patterns on the upper-storey eaves.

The bronze phoenix on the roof is a later addition: old records show a jewel-shaped finial there until about the late eighteenth century.

The raked sand terrace Ginshadan and the sand cone Kōgetsudai took their present form only in the late Edo period, long after Yoshimasa.

Yoshimasa moved into the villa's living quarters in 1483, years before the complex was finished, and took Buddhist vows in 1485.

Ginkaku-ji is one of the seventeen sites of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Why it is worth it

Ginkaku-ji, the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion", is officially called Jishō-ji and belongs to the Shōkoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen. It stands at the foot of the Higashiyama hills on Kyoto's eastern edge. It began as the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who started planning it around 1460. While the Ōnin War tore through Kyoto, Yoshimasa withdrew here and presided over a flowering of traditional arts later called Higashiyama culture. He moved stones and pines from ruined palaces in the city to furnish his garden. After his death in 1490 the villa became a Zen temple, named after his Buddhist name.

The main building is the two-storey Kannon hall, begun in 1482 and modelled on the Golden Pavilion that Yoshimasa's grandfather Yoshimitsu had built. Despite its nickname, it was never covered in silver. Work stalled during the war, and the "Silver Pavilion" name only appears in the Edo period. Its simple dark wood and lacquer are now seen as an expression of wabi-sabi, the aesthetic of understatement and imperfection. After a major restoration that began in 2008, the decision was taken not to refinish the lacquer, and the building looks much as Yoshimasa last saw it. The design was set to its surroundings: a room faces the point where the moon rises over the hills, and another was designed as a study lit by light reflected off the water.

The gardens are the highlight. Visitors pass the famous sand garden, a raked expanse of sand beside a carefully shaped sand cone that is said to symbolise Mount Fuji. Beyond lies a strolling garden of pond, rocks and many kinds of moss, traditionally attributed to the painter and designer Sōami.

The temple is at the northern end of the Philosopher's Walk, a stone path along a cherry-lined canal named for the Kyoto University philosophers Nishida Kitarō and Tanabe Hajime, who are said to have walked it daily. It runs about 30 minutes south to Nanzen-ji, passing Hōnen-in and other temples, and is especially crowded in cherry blossom season. Arrive early to see the garden quietly.

Getting there

Ginkaku-ji is in Sakyō ward in north-eastern Kyoto, about 4 km from Kamigyō ward in central Kyoto, at the northern end of the Philosopher's Walk. The nearest airport is Osaka Itami (ITM), about 43 km away; international flights use Kansai International (KIX).

Plan your visit

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Ginkaku-ji Temple

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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