Kyōto - Ginkaku-ji: Hōjō
Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺), or the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion”, located at the food of Kyoto’s eastern mountains, Higashiyama, was originally built by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利 義政) in 1482 as a retirement villa. Yoshimasa, the 8th Ashikaga shogunate during the Muromachi period, modeled the Ginkaku-ji after Kinkaku-ji, the retirement villa commissioned by his grandfather, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga shogunate. After Yoshimasa’s death in 1490, Ginkaku-ji was converted to a zen temple, Jishō-ji (慈照寺), or the "Temple of Shining Mercy," which, today, is associated with the Shokoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen.
As the retirement villa of an art obsessed shogun, Ginkakuji became the center of Higashiyama Bunka (東山文化), or Higashiyama Culture or the Culture of the Eastern Mountain, which unlike the Kitayama Bunka (北山文化) of his grandfather’s times, had a broad impact on the entire country. Based largely on the ideals and aesthetics of Zen Buddhism and the concept of wabi-sabi (beauty in simplicity), it was during Higashiyama Bunka that much of what is commonly seen today as traditional Japanese culture originated and developed, including chadō (Japanese tea ceremony), ikebana (flower arranging), Noh drama, and sumi-e ink painting. Having retired to the villa, it is said that Yoshimasa retreated here
The two-storied Kannon-den (観音殿), or Kannon hall, is the temple’s main structure and lends its popular name, Ginkaku, or the Silver Pavilion, to the temple. This name dates back, only, to the early Edo period, and its origin is is disputed. Some believe it is owed to Yoshimasa's initial plans--halted during the Onion War--to cover the pavilion's exterior in silver foil; others claim its due to the silvery appearance created by moonlight reflecting on the formerly black lacquered exterior. It is one of only two buildings, along with the Tōgudō, on the grounds to have survived intact over the years.
The Hōjō is the main temple building, or Hondō, and dates to the mid-Edo period. The central image of worship inside the hall is a statue of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Inside are sliding-door paintings by the great Edo-period Nanga literati painters Yosa Buson and Ike Taiga.
The property also features wooded grounds, The a Japanese garden designed by the great landscape artist Sōami, and a meticulously manicured sand garden known as Ginshadan (銀沙灘), or the "Sea of Silver Sand."
Ginkaku-ji, along with 16 other locations across Kyōto, Uji and Ōtsu, comprise the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities), designated in 1994.
Kyōto - Ginkaku-ji: Hōjō
Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺), or the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion”, located at the food of Kyoto’s eastern mountains, Higashiyama, was originally built by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利 義政) in 1482 as a retirement villa. Yoshimasa, the 8th Ashikaga shogunate during the Muromachi period, modeled the Ginkaku-ji after Kinkaku-ji, the retirement villa commissioned by his grandfather, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga shogunate. After Yoshimasa’s death in 1490, Ginkaku-ji was converted to a zen temple, Jishō-ji (慈照寺), or the "Temple of Shining Mercy," which, today, is associated with the Shokoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen.
As the retirement villa of an art obsessed shogun, Ginkakuji became the center of Higashiyama Bunka (東山文化), or Higashiyama Culture or the Culture of the Eastern Mountain, which unlike the Kitayama Bunka (北山文化) of his grandfather’s times, had a broad impact on the entire country. Based largely on the ideals and aesthetics of Zen Buddhism and the concept of wabi-sabi (beauty in simplicity), it was during Higashiyama Bunka that much of what is commonly seen today as traditional Japanese culture originated and developed, including chadō (Japanese tea ceremony), ikebana (flower arranging), Noh drama, and sumi-e ink painting. Having retired to the villa, it is said that Yoshimasa retreated here
The two-storied Kannon-den (観音殿), or Kannon hall, is the temple’s main structure and lends its popular name, Ginkaku, or the Silver Pavilion, to the temple. This name dates back, only, to the early Edo period, and its origin is is disputed. Some believe it is owed to Yoshimasa's initial plans--halted during the Onion War--to cover the pavilion's exterior in silver foil; others claim its due to the silvery appearance created by moonlight reflecting on the formerly black lacquered exterior. It is one of only two buildings, along with the Tōgudō, on the grounds to have survived intact over the years.
The Hōjō is the main temple building, or Hondō, and dates to the mid-Edo period. The central image of worship inside the hall is a statue of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Inside are sliding-door paintings by the great Edo-period Nanga literati painters Yosa Buson and Ike Taiga.
The property also features wooded grounds, The a Japanese garden designed by the great landscape artist Sōami, and a meticulously manicured sand garden known as Ginshadan (銀沙灘), or the "Sea of Silver Sand."
Ginkaku-ji, along with 16 other locations across Kyōto, Uji and Ōtsu, comprise the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities), designated in 1994.