Kinkaku - the Golden Pavilion

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Kamo Shrines

The Kamo Shrines, Kamigamo Jinja (上賀茂神社) and Shimogamo Jinja (下鴨神社) are a pair of Shinto shrines in Kyoto, Japan. They are among the oldest shrines in the country. Both shrines are dedicated to Kamo Wake-ikazuchi, the kami of thunder, and both feature prominently in the Aoi Festival, which occurs in May and involves a procession between the two shrines, horse races, and archery.

Kamigamo Shrine (Upper Kamo Shrine) is the more recently founded of the pair, dating most likely from the 7th century. It is famous for its Haiden (worship hall), rebuilt in 1628. A number of priests' residences are situated on its grounds, and one, the Nishimura House, is open to the public. Kamigamo Shrine is also known as "Kamowakeikazuchi Shrine." Its two large conical sand mounds memorialize the holy trees that once served to welcome spirits.

Shimogamo Shrine (Lower Kamo Shrine), is believed to be 100 years older, dating back to the 6th century. The shrine was later rebuilt to protect the capital city of Heian-kyo (as Kyoto was then called) when it was founded in 794. It has since become one of the key shrines in the area, being associated with prayers to ensure the success of the annual rice harvest.

Shimogamo Shrine is located within Tadasu no Mori (糺の森), 'the forest of truth,' a primeval forest that is supposed to have never been burned or chopped down. The forest has in fact suffered some damage over the centuries, as Kyoto was burned during successive revolts and wars, but its growth has rebounded and is widely considered to be mainly natural, not pruned or planted by human beings. Shimogamo Shrine is also known as "Kamomioya Shrine" (賀茂御祖神社).

Ginkaku-ji Temple

Ginkaku-ji

Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺) the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion," is a Buddhist temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto. The official name is Jishō-ji (慈照寺, "Temple of Shining Mercy"). It was built in 1474 by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who sought to emulate the golden Kinkaku-ji commissioned by his grandfather AshikagA Yoshimitsu.

The Kannon hall is the main building at the temple. It is popularly known as Ginkaku, the Silver Pavilion. There is a popular account: "The intention was to cover it in silver, but due to the increasing severity of the Ōnin War, which broke out several years earlier in 1467, construction was halted, and the silver covering never placed on the pavilion".

However, time-honored trees and great stones which were collected from various places in Japan are used for the temple, thus, cost was spent luxuriously to build the temple. Therefore, it is difficult to consider that only the cost of the silver foil was saved. And, the silver has not been detected at all as for scientific researches done in January 2007. Therefore, the present appearance of the temple is thought as be based on the original intention of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, that is "wabi-sabi". [Wabi-sabi 侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete."]

Like Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji was originally built to serve as a place of rest and solitude for the Shogun. During his reign as Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa inspired a new outpouring of traditional culture, which came to be known as Higashiyama Bunka, the Culture of the Eastern Mountain. Having retired to the villa, it is said Yoshimasa sat in the pavilion, contemplating the calm and beauty of the gardens as the Ōnin War worsened and Kyoto was burned to the ground. In 1485, Yoshimasa became a Zen Buddhist monk, and after his death the villa became a Buddhist temple, renamed Jishō-ji.

In addition to that building, the temple features wooded grounds covered with a variety of mosses, and a Japanese garden, supposedly designed by the great landscape artist Soami. The rock and sand garden of Ginkaku-ji is particularly famous, and a pile of sand said to symbolize Mount Fuji has now come to be a part of the garden.

Panorama of Nanzen-ji's Rock Garden

Nanzen-ji

Nanzenji (南禅寺, or Zuiryusan Nanzenji) is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Emperor Kameyama established it in 1291 on the site of his palace, and it became one of the most important Rinzai temples in Japan.

Like the nearby temple of Ginkaku-ji, Nanzenji is a former aristocratic retirement villa that was turned into a temple on the death of its owner.

Emperor Kameyama (1249-1305) built his detached palace here in 1264. He later became a student of the Zen Master Busshin Daimin Kokushi, and he dedicated the palace as a Zen temple in 1291.

Nanzenji went on to become one of the Five Great Zen Temples of Kyoto. As the headquarters of the Nanzenji branch of the Rinzai school of Zen, it is also one of the most important Zen temples in the world. Throughout its history, the abbot of Nanzenji was always chosen as the best Rinzai Zen Master in each period.

Rinzai Zen was introduced to Japan by the Chinese priest Ensai in 1191 and emphasizes the use of koans, paradoxical puzzles or questions that help the practitioner to overcome the normal boundaries of logic.

The 15th-century Onin Civil War demolished the original temple buildings, but some were rebuilt during the 16th century. The temple's large entrance gate (Sanmon) was completed in 1628.

Sanmon Gate

You enter the temple through the Sanmon (Triple Gate), the classic "gateless" gate of Zen Buddhism that symbolizes entrance into the most sacred part of the temple precincts. The grand wooden structure was built in 1628 by Todo Takatora in memory of those who died in the civil war.

Don't miss the statue of Goemon Ishikawa, a Robin Hood-style outlaw of Japan who hid in this gate until his capture. From the top floor of the gate you can view Kyoto spread out below.

Through the gate is the Hojo (Abbots' Quarters), a National Treasure. Inside, sliding doors (fusuma) with impressive 16th-century paintings divide the chambers. These wall panels of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety and Hermits were created by Eitoku Kano (1543-90) of the Kano school.

Attached to the Hojo is a Zen garden, known as the "Leaping Tiger Garden." An excellent example of the karesansui style (seen more famously at Ryoanji), the rock-and-gravel garden was created by Kobori Enshu. It has the unusual feature of having its large rocks grouped with clipped azaleas, maples, pines, and moss, all positioned against a plain white wall behind the raked gravel.

Within Nanzen-ji's 27 forested acres is an aqueduct built in 1890 and several other temples, known more for their gardens than for their buildings.

One temple worth visiting if you have time is Nanzen-in, directly behind the aqueduct. Nanzen-in is not as famous as other temples, making it a peaceful place to visit. Once the temporary abode of Emperor Kameyama, Nanzen-in has a mausoleum and a garden that dates from the 14th century; a small creek passes through it. The garden is particularly spectacular with autumn leaves.

Also worth a look is the rarely-visited Konchiin, southwest of the Sanmon gate.