Ginkakuji: Silver Pavilion under a Fiery Mountain

Tourist attractions near Shisendo, Part 3 of 3. This series of blog entries began with Shugakuin, the biggest attraction to the immediate north of Shisendo. This final entry reviews the biggest attraction to the immediate south of Shisendo. If you missed Part 2, you can find it and a link to Part 1 here.

Ginkakuji Temple: At the north end of The Path of Philosophy, The Silver Pavilion is famous for not being silver at all, unlike its golden precursor, Kinkakuji, which is located across town. Many people prefer the subdued wooden tones of The Silver Pavilion, but I’m not one of them. My first look at the The Golden Pavilion stopped me in my tracks and I can’t say the same thing about Ginkakuji. The Silver Pavilion has an expansive rock garden, including a dome shaped pile that while resembling Mount Fuji, is pointedly said not to represent the venerable mountain. From a tourist perspective, the tragedy of Ginkakuji is that it is reputed to look best at night when the white gravel in the garden reflects the light of a full moon. Unfortunately, it is only open during the daytime, so most of us will never know.

Ginkakuji is such a famous Kyoto attraction that I can’t bring myself to advise anyone to avoid a visit. If you are planning on doing the full walk on the Path of Philosophy, it does make a wonderful bookend to the stroll. The one circumstance in which I would consider Ginkakuji a must see is if you are unable to visit the verdant moss of garden of Saihoji (Kokedera, lit. “The Moss Temple”). The mountain walk behind Ginkakuji features a mossy carpet of the deepest green and a view of the pavilion that makes the roof appear to be floating in the air.

N.B. If you enjoy hiking, the path behind Ginkakuji leads to the “dai” 大 cut into the mountain of Daimonji. You can literally stand in the middle of the character and view a panorama of Kyoto, not to mention have a look at the cisterns that are lit up once a year in August while revelers enjoy the five fiery mountains that light up the city.