Ginkaku-ji
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Monuments Of Ancient Kyoto (1994); The Kannon Den Is A National Treasure · Kyoto, Kyoto
The Temple of the Silver Pavilion, formally Jisho-ji, at the foot of the Higashiyama hills in north-east Kyoto. It began in 1482 as the retirement villa of the eighth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshimasa, a failed ruler but a great patron, whose circle shaped Higashiyama culture: the tea ceremony, ikebana, Noh, ink painting and the restrained taste later called wabi. After his death in 1490 the villa became a Zen temple. The two-storey Kannon-den, the Silver Pavilion itself, was never covered in silver; its dark wood is the point. In front lie two strange sand works, the flat raked Ginshadan, the sea of silver sand, and the tall truncated cone of the Kogetsudai, the moon-facing platform. A path loops past a pond and a moss garden and climbs the hillside to a view over the pavilion and the city. The Togu-do holds the Dojinsai, a small study seen as the ancestor of the tea room, opened only at special times. The canal-side Philosopher's Path runs south from the gate towards Honen-in and Nanzen-ji. It is very crowded in cherry and maple season.
2 Ginkakujicho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto, 606-8402, Japan
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the temple opens daily, roughly 8:30 am to 5 pm from March to November and roughly 9 am to 4:30 pm from December to February, with the gate closing to new visitors at the stated time. Special openings of the Togu-do and main hall run only on set dates, usually spring and autumn, with their own hours and ticket. There is no weekly closing day, but crowds in April and November and slow buses from Kyoto Station are the traps that ruin a morning. Confirm current times before relying on them.