Ginkakuji Temple

The Silver Pavilion

My visit of this temple

While my day with the theme of « along the gardens of Kyoto », I went to this temple of Ginkakuji. Furthermore, it was the first temple I visited during this day and when I arrived, a huge bamboo hedge accompanied me until the entrance. Then, once, I was inside, I was directly in front of a big cone representing the Mount Fuji accompanied with a gravel and sand garden called « Silver sand sea ».

While the time I was there, I had the impression to be in a little piece of heaven such this place inspires peace and tranquillity.

Its Japanese garden is magnificent with this luxurious vegetation that brings us an inner calm all along our visit. After walking around this Japanese moss garden, we go up on a hill that overlooks the temple.

This nature settles each visitor and envelops in a good energy. This is a walk that we could easily extend because we are quickly propelled in its world. This is in this world I would like to invite you to discover through my photographs.

The Ginkakuji Temple is a pure beauty and I highly recommend planning a visit if you are in Kyoto.

Little History of Ginkakuji Temple

The 8th Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, grandchild of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, has built this temple in 1482. He wanted to compete with its grandfather who built the Golden Temple called Kinkakuji. Ginkakuji is the common name but he was called Higashimaya Jishoji. This is the place where the Higashimaya culture started to begin the modern life of Japanese.

After his construction, the idea was to covered this temple by silver leaves, but because of the Onin’s war, this temple has never been recovered and painted that allows to discover the beauty of a temple in its natural state and to see the simplicity of the japanese culture.

There are symbols of calms and solitude we find in this temple, and, thanks to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu who, during his reign, gave a new impetus to the traditional culture, now, known under the name of Higashiyama Bunka or the East Culture Mountain. According to, Yoshimasa liked to contemplate the beauty of the gardens while the Onin’s war was devastating Kyoto. In 1485, he became a Zen Buddhist monk.

Why did I love Ginkakuji temple?  

Despite of the fact that is a touristic place, this temple with its moss garden inspired me and brought me calm, serenity and permitted refocusing on myself. I am particularly sensitive to the energy that nature releases and when I am in a place where I feel good, I could stay for hours. For Ginkakuji Temple, I took my time between taking pictures and observe what I had around me.

Their path allows us to discover a garden fills with huge vegetation fills with different trees and plants. There is even a small waterfall and a pond. Most of lookouts proposed are as much as high on the floor and allow us to diversify the angles for our photos.

I found this garden very inspiring with its magnificien temple in its natural state. A visit that I highly recommend, in order, to see the beauty of Japanese architecture and culture.