{"id":2712,"date":"2013-12-16T07:06:04","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T07:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=2712"},"modified":"2018-07-26T13:51:38","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T13:51:38","slug":"explore-japan-kinkakuji-temple-in-kyoto-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/explore-japan-kinkakuji-temple-in-kyoto-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore Japan \u2013 Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever seen any temple covered with gold leaf? \u00a0Well, one of the most well recognized temples in Japan, Kinkakuji (kinkaku ji, \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa)\u00a0is actually a special temple that is covered with pure gold leaf, and it is also called, “Temple of the Golden Pavilion.” \u00a0This temple\u00a0is located in Kyoto, Japan and is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape site among one of the 17 locations comprising the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto under UNESCO World Heritage Site. \u00a0Let me introduce you this popular temple in this article. Its history is very interesting, actually the temple that exists today is not an original one. Unfortunately, it was burned down once and was reconstructed back in 1955.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kinkakuji(kinkaku ji, \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa) is located in the north part of Kyoto, Japan. \u00a0The formal name is actually, “Rokuonji, (rokuonji,\u9e7f\u82d1\u5bfa )”. In 1397, it was built by Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, who was the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who ruled from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. It was built as a villa originally, but after Yoshimitsu passed away, the Rokuonji was transformed into a Zen temple. Since the top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf,\u00a0\u00a0it became knows as “Kinkakuji (kinkaku ji, \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa). \u00a0“Kin,\u91d1” means gold, “Kaku, \u95a3” means pavilion, and “Ji,\u5bfa” means temple in Japanese.<\/p>\n

Kinkakuji(kinkaku ji, \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa)has 3 floors, and it incorporates different architectural style in each floor beautifully. \u00a0The style used on the first floor is “Shinden style(shin-den, \u5bdd\u6bbf\u9020\u308a )\u00a0, also\u00a0knows as “The Chamber of Dharma Waters”.<\/i> \u00a0It\u00a0reflects the\u00a0reminiscent of the residential style of the 11th century Heian\u00a0imperial aristocracy. The style used on the second floor is “Buke style (buke,\u6b66\u5bb6\u9020), which is also known as “The Tower of Sound Waves”,<\/i> which is a warrior style. The third floor is traditional Zen style and called “Zenshu Yoshiki(zen-shu yo-shiki,\u00a0\u7985\u5b97\u69d8\u5f0f).<\/p>\n

I mentioned above that Kinkakuji(kinkaku ji, \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa) was once burned down. \u00a0Well, that happened on July 2, 1950, by a 22-year-old novice monk, whose name was Yoken Hayashi (yoken hayashi,\u00a0\u6797\u627f\u8ce2). \u00a0There are many documented reasons as to why he committed the arson, but most of them are related to his mental and health reasons. \u00a0It is documented that he had a sever stammering symptom, and also he was not mentally stable. \u00a0He attempted to commit suicide afterwards but he was taken into custody and survived. \u00a0He died of tuberculosis\u00a0in 1956. \u00a0The pavilion was restored in 1955 after the fire damage.<\/p>\n

\"Burned_Kinkaku\"<\/a>

Kinkakuji, right after arson<\/p><\/div>\n

Photo from Wikipedia.com<\/p>\n

Enjoy the following short video that shows Kinkakuji(kinkaku ji, \u91d1\u95a3\u5bfa) covered in snow. \u00a0It looks absolutely amazing!<\/p>\n