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In the heart of one of the cultural centers of Japan, you gaze across a large pond
at an endless array of verdant green Japanese maple trees. Jutting out into the
water are graceful peninsulas and islets with shapely bonsai trees. But at the center
of it all, gleaming so brightly in the sun that it almost hurts your eyes, is the
Golden Pavilion Temple.
Kyoto’s “Golden Pavilion Temple,” the Kinkaku-ji (official site),
is formally called the Rokuon-ji (“Deer Garden Temple”), but its nickname is much
more widely known. This three-story Buddhist temple sits along the edge of a large
pond called the Kyouko-chi (“Mirror Pond”), which strikingly reflects the temple’s
splendor in the sunlight. Surrounded by a lush forest and a kaiyuu-shiki, a “strolling
garden,” the Kinkanu-ji is a popular stop for natives and tourists alike.
History
First built in 1397, the Kinkaku-ji was originally designed for a shogun (military
leader) as a retirement villa. The shogun’s son inherited the estate and allowed
the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen Buddhists to turn the villa into a Buddhist temple.
The Kinkaku-ji has been burned down three times—twice during a 10-year war in the
15th century and once as recently as 1950 when a mentally ill monk tried to commit
suicide and set fire to the pavilion. The foundation of the Kinkaku-ji as it appears
today was completed in 1955, although improvements to the roof and gildings have
been made over the past half century.
Structure
The Kinkaku-ji is literally covered in pure gold leaf, inside and out! Although
the original shogun owner did envision his retirement villa covered entirely in
gold, he only managed to cover the top floor’s ceiling in gold leaf while he was
alive. Subsequent rebuilding and improvements added more and more gold until the
1980s. Eventually, gold leaf that is five times as thick as the original gold plating
was added to the building’s exterior. The gold is so valuable that the temple has
its own set of guards who watch over it night and day.
The three floors of the Kinkaku-ji were all designed in a different style. The first
floor is called the Housuiin (“Temple of Dharma Water”) and is the one floor without
gold leaf. It was built in the style of Heian era imperial aristocracy, which is
called shinden-zukuri style architecture. The second floor, the Chouondou (“Grotto
of Wave Sounds”) evokes buke-zukuri architecture style and was built in the style
of a samurai’s home. The top floor, the Kukkyouchou (“Superb Apex”), is the main
hall for the Zen Buddhists (who continue to use the temple) and was built in the
Zen shu butsuden-zukuri architectural style. At the very apex of the roof is a statue
of a Chinese-style phoenix made entirely from gold.
Visiting
Unfortunately for those in awe of the Kinkaku-ji’s splendor, the inside of the temple
is off-limits to visitors. However, visitors are welcome to stroll through the gardens
and the compound, view the temple from the outside, write down wishes and prayers,
and have tea at an adjoining teahouse.
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