慈照寺

Ginkaku-ji, officially Jishō-ji, is a Zen temple in Kyoto’s Sakyo ward and one of the key monuments of Higashiyama Culture in the Muromachi period. It is known as the Temple of the Silver Pavilion, though the pavilion was never covered in silver. The temple was founded in the late 15th century by Ashikaga Yoshimasa as a retirement villa and later converted into a Zen temple. Its grounds reflect Muromachi-period aesthetics and religious practice, with the Kannon-dō, the Silver Pavilion, and garden features arranged around the main temple area. Ginkaku-ji is an important site for Zen Buddhism and Japanese cultural history. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto” and remains associated with the broader Kyoto temple landscape and pilgrimage tradition.