Kinkaku and Rokuon-ji: A Three-Story Building in Three Styles

From Kitayama-dono to Rokuon-ji

The official temple name of Kinkaku-ji is Rokuon-ji. Its gleaming golden reliquary hall is called Kinkaku.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, established his mountain villa, Kitayama-dono, in 1397.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established Kitayama-dono in 1397. It later became a Zen temple and was named Rokuon-ji.

The name Rokuon-ji was taken from Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's posthumous Buddhist name, Rokuon-in-den.

Kinkaku's second story, Chōon-dō, is in the buke-zukuri (warrior residence) style. The first story is in the shinden-zukuri (aristocratic residence) style, and the third is in the Zen Buddhist hall style.

Kinkaku's third story, Kukkyō-chō, is in the Zen Buddhist hall style. The three stories combine different styles.

A symbol of Kitayama culture

Kinkaku-ji is presented as a representative building of the lavish Kitayama culture.

Before Yoshimitsu, it was a Saionji family villa

This site was originally where Saionji Kintsune, a court noble of the Kamakura period, built Saionji, his clan temple, and his mountain villa, Kitayama-dai, which were dedicated in 1224 (Gennin 1). When the Saionji family declined, Kitayama-dai fell into ruin, and the pond is said to be the only remaining feature from that time.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu acquired the land and began building Kitayama-dono in 1397 (Ōei 4). In 1408 (Ōei 15), Emperor Go-Komatsu visited, an event known as the Kitayama Gyōkō (the imperial visit to Kitayama). Yoshimitsu lived here until his death at 51; afterward his son Yoshimochi turned it into a temple, inviting Musō Kokushi as its founder, and named it Rokuon-ji.

At Kitayama-dono, Kitayama culture flourished against the backdrop of trade with Ming China. In the Edo period, Saishō Shōtai became chief priest on Tokugawa Ieyasu's orders and the temple's financial foundation was secured. After struggling in the Meiji era with the loss of its patrons, the temple began accepting visitors in 1894 (Meiji 27).

What is enshrined on each of the three stories?

Kinkaku is a reliquary hall enshrining relics of the Buddha (busshari). The first story houses a seated statue of Yoshimitsu and other images, the second a seated Iwaya Kannon and statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, among others, and the third the Buddha's relics. It is a building in which each story enshrines something different, not just a dazzling sight from outside.

Gold leaf covers the second and third stories, applied over lacquer. The first story is in the shinden-zukuri style and the second in the buke-zukuri style, and Kinkaku is said to blend the cultures of the court nobility and the warrior class. A phoenix is mounted on the top of the roof.

Is today's Kinkaku a reconstruction? Before you visit

Kinkaku survived from Yoshimitsu's time through the Ōnin War, but it burned down by arson in 1950 (Shōwa 25). The building now standing beside the pond was rebuilt in 1955 (Shōwa 30), and in 1987 (Shōwa 62) its lacquer was recoated and its gold leaf replaced. People often assume it is the original Muromachi-period building, but the structure is a postwar reconstruction.

The pond-circuit garden surrounding Kinkaku, on the other hand, is designated a Special Historic Site and Special Place of Scenic Beauty. North of the reliquary hall are the Ginga-sen spring, the Ganka-sui water, and the Ryūmon Falls, all said to be associated with Yoshimitsu, as well as the Sekka-tei teahouse, known for its shelves of bush clover and its alcove post of nandina wood. The address is 1 Kinkakuji-chō, Kita Ward. Visiting hours and fees may change, so check the temple's official information before you go.