Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion), Kyoto

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The Ginkakuji Temple, or Silver Pavilion, is a world cultural heritage site and an ideal place to start or end a stroll along the 'Philosopher's Walk.

The temple was originally the mountain retreat of shogun Yoshimasa, who originally planned to cover the pavilion in silver, as a tribute to his grandfather, who covered Kinkaku-ji in gold leaf. However, he was unable to do so as a result of the Onin War.

The gardens are designed to appear beautiful in every season.

Admission is 500 yen.

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The temple was built as a retirement villa for Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1482. It is called the Silver Temple (Ginkakuji), because the original plan was to cover the outside of the temple in silver in the same way that Kinkakuji is covered in gold but this never happened, so it has a more natural look with the wood exposed. After Yoshimasa's death, just eight years later in 1490, Ginkakuji became a Zen temple.

While it is natural to wonder how the temple would look in the original silver design, it is well worth the visit as it is! Instead of contrasting Kinkakuji in color, it contrasts it with its subtle beauty (as opposed to the flashy, flamboyance of Kinkakuji). Although there are usually crowds, the zen sand garden together with the temple create a more serene and calm feeling.

Sometimes even when the lower part of the temple is crowded, the pathway that extends up into the wooded area is quite empty. At peak hours it will probably also have many people. In recognition of its value, Ginkakuji has been designated as one of Kyoto's World Heritage Sites.

Entrance is 500 yen.

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After the experience of the golden pavillon(where I found a lot of students), I decided to visit this temple just 30 minuts before it closed.
It revealed to be a great idea as only a few tourists were there and I could enjoy the walk about the beautiful japanese gardens and small lakes around the pavillon.
Also this temple originally was a villa built with the inetntion to spend there his retired life by Ashikaga.
To be honest I enjoyed this temple much more than the golden one even if when I visited there was some reconstructing works.The pavillon itself might not be as impressive as the golden one, but the japanese gardens all around the place, were really special.
Opening time: 8:30 to 17:00 (9:00 to 16:30 from December to February)
Ticket price: 500 yen

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Ginkakuji is a Zen temple located at Higashiyama. The temple was known as Tozan Jishoji. Ashikaga Yoshimasa built his retirement villa on grounds of today's temple in 1482. A few years later Silver Pavillion was constructed after modelling from Golden Pavillion. However plans of covering the pavillion in silver were never realized. After Yoshimasa's death in 1490, the villa was converted into a Zen temple. There was still reconstruction works on going at the time of our visit. The works will be completed by spring 2010. Admission fee is 500 JPY. It is open daily from 8:30 to 17:00.

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One of the top sights in Kyoto is the UNESCO World Heritage Sight and Japanese National Treasure Ginkaku-ji-- the Silver Temple. While it's neither silver nor a temple, it's a beautiful example of 15th century Japanese style, even if the silver pavillion is being refurbished as it was the last time I was there. Ginkaku-ji ha a beautiful dry garden (made of white sand), a peaceful pond and a shaded path that winds through a moss-covered, shaded landscape complete with streams and tiny waterfalls.
Apparently, it was built in 1482 by a guy who wanted some peace! Dismayed with the politics of the court, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa dropped out to his parcel of land northeast of the city to build his dream home. Not a bad idea, as history looks upon him as a fairly incompetent ruler, so it was probably best for everyone concerned hat he devote time to archetecture, landscaping, tea ceremonies and poetry. Don't you wish George Bush had retreated to Crawford to do the same thing in 2004?!
On a hot summer day, we found the cool paths and views over the city to be delightful. We paused for several portraits of Julia and Janet with fans. Hopefully, Julia will remember this visit fondly.
Afterwards, we took the bus back to town, learning how to do it on the fly!

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The temple was built by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa for his retirement villa in 1460.
After his death, Yoshimasa would arrange for this property to become a Buddhist temple.
This temple is closely associated with Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion Temple) built by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, his grandfather.
The official name of this temple is Jisho-ji (Temple of Shining Mercy), but it is popularly known as Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion Temple) because of the initial plans to cover its exterior in silver foil.
But during Onin war, the construction was halted and it was delayed for so long even until Yoshimasa's death, the silver overlaying was not realized.

Admission fee is ¥ 500.

Ginkakuji is also a good starting or end point for a walk along the Path of Philosophy to/from Nanzenji.

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The colors of the Japanese maples at Ginkakuji Temple is very beautiful. It is so exhilirating to just stop and breath the fresh cold air up in the mountains and hills of Kyoto.

The leaves are in colors of bright oranges, reds, purples, red orange, yellow, yellow green and green.

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There are so many arts and crafts made by the Japanese. They are usually on display and are on sale at the local stores which are line up on the streets at the Ginkakuji Temple. There's one particular store that caught my eye because they have the most beautiful crafts I have seen so far at the local stores. These are hanging crafts- made of silk stuffed with cotton! These are shaped in maple leaves colored orange, purples and reds. Some are shaped in other things like birds, pumpkins, fruits, etc.

There's one that I wanted to buy but it is way too big and too expensive. I bought some small coin purses made of silk. It's cheap but poorly made. I also bought some purses for jewelries.