Ginkakuji (Higashi Jishoji)- The Silver Pavilion

April 11, 2016 by Brennan Duff in Temples

Ginkakuji, or the Silver Pavilion as it is more widely known, is a Zen temple in Higashiyama in northeastern Kyoto. It was founded in 1482 by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who built the Silver Pavilion to resemble the grand Golden Pavilion founded by his predecessor Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Like the Golden Pavilion, the Silver Pavilion was built as a place of spirituality and relaxation for the shogun. The temple was originally designed to be covered in silver in reference to the Golden Pavilion, but silver at the time was far more valuable than gold and the shogunate did not have the funding for the final silver gilt of the temple hall. The Silver Pavilion stands as it did then, not covered in the precious metal, but still a masterpiece of woodwork and an inspiring landscape of rock gardens, dominating trees, and lush mossy hills.

For the casual: 10, for the educated: 10.

Though nowhere near as ostentatious as the Golden Pavilion founded by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the Silver Pavilion is dominant in its subdued and tranquil environment. I've been asked which temple I would prefer to return to, the Golden Pavilion or the Silver Pavilion, and to be honest it isn't a hard question. I would much rather spend my time at the Silver Pavilion than the Golden Pavilion and it's not for the reasons you might think. For one, the Silver Pavilion is a better temple. Sure, the Golden Pavilion has real gold adorning the main hall of the complex, but the rest of the complex didn't match that same level of glamor. The Silver Pavilion on the other hand is a better complex because the main hall fits with the rest of the complex. It stands out in design and location, but it doesn't overshadow the rest of the temple. Then there is the question of environment. The Golden Pavilion is open and draws massive crowds for the obvious reason, but the Silver Pavilion is secluded, and though similarly host to large crowds, they're not the same as the overwhelming magnitude that is drawn to the Golden Pavilion. Because of this, as a visitor, I felt like I was given the opportunity to make a personal connection with the Silver Pavilion, a connection I was not given the chance of at the Golden Pavilion. I know this has been rather preachy, but between the two, I would rather visit the Golden Pavilion only the one time but return often to the Silver Pavilion.

Tenryûji (Kyoto Gozan #1)

January 26, 2016 by Brennan Duff in Temples

Tenryûji, located in the Arashiyama area of western Kyoto, was founded in 1339 by the first shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate (The Muromachi period 1336-1573), Ashikaga Takauji. Tenryûji was built to commemorate Emperor Go-Daigo, the emperor who restored imperial control of the nation following his successful uprising to end the Kamakura period in 1333. Emperor Go-Daigo was later betrayed by the Ashikaga, one of the main families to aid in the emperor’s uprising. In order to appease the ghost of Emperor Go-Daigo, Tenryûji was built to honor him so that his ghost would not return and bring harm to the nation. The Emperor both in China and Japan is referred to as the heavenly dragon hence the temple name of Tenryûji: Ten meaning heavenly, ryû meaning dragon, and ji meaning temple, a.k.a. the Temple of the Heavenly Dragon. The temple gained further accolades due to the first abbot of the temple, Muso Soseki. Soseki was known for his garden architecture and designed the temple garden to become the first and by far most well known Zen garden. Such high praise established Tenryûji as temple #1 of the Kyoto Gozan.

For the casual: 9, for the educated: 9.

Though slightly tricky to get to, Tenryûji is one of the most amazing temples I ever visited. Now saying that, that means that there will probably be significant crowds of visitors to the temple. The temple gardens are designed and maintained in a way to invoke a deep sense of inner peace and tranquility while also serving as puzzles for meditation. It is important to note that every aspect of the garden is set that way for a reason, and I'm not only taking about why the pond is shaped the way it is or the number of rocks which produce a waterfall, I also mean which side of the rock is showing, how many leaves are allowed to remain on the moss covered ground, how tall the moss is, etc. The garden is meticulously maintained to evoke the right thoughts to enter the mind of the viewer. So look at the temple like one would when appraising a work of art: why did the artists choose to do that? Could it have been done differently and still be able to evoke the same feelings? Finally, I highly recommend that when you're done, you exit out the back garden gate to see the bamboo forests of Arashiyama. These forests are famous around the world and often find their way into feature films like "Memoirs of a Geisha". I've posted some of my photos below, but I would make sure you go see the forest if you're already in the area.

The meditation hall next to the garden pond.

Statue of Emperor Go-Daigo in his mausoleum on the temple grounds.

The main pond at Tenryûji. The pond is in the shape of a Chinese character but I'll let you try to figure out which it is.

The bamboo forests of Arashiyama. Fun word: Komoreibi, it has to English equivalent but means "the light that filters through tree leaves".

Daisen-in (Daitokuji)

January 26, 2016 by Brennan Duff in Temples

Daisen-in, one of many small buildings in the Daitokuji complex, is located in northern Kyoto near Kinkakuji. Although the Daitokuji complex in general is rarely open to the public, Daisen-in is open to public visits for its major role in Japanese late medieval history. Daisen-in is a famous tea house surrounded by one of the premier rock gardens in the world. The rocks in the garden reference a whole array of literature and mythology from Chinese classics, sacred mountains, auspicious animals, and Zen philosophies. In addition to the gardens, the tea house was known to be one of the primary meeting venues for legendary samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi (ruled the Momoyama period in the late 16th century) and his tea master Sen no Rikyû, the inventor of the Japanese tea ceremony.

For the casual: 5, for the educated: 10.

I'm not sure this building can properly be understood without some understanding of basic Chinese classics, cultural motifs, and the influence of Sen no Rikyû. It's a complex issue of a rock looking like a thing which references a certain type of theory proposed by a famous philosopher from a famous school of thought which relates to an icon who's meaning was brought to Japan by another famous person which changed the nation in this way to make the nation like that. Sadly, I actually was thinking of an actual stone when writing that previous statement, and unlike Ryôanji which only has 15 rocks, Daisen-in has roughly 50. For this reason I'm just not comfortable proposing this as a must-see for casual viewers, although I do not in any way wish to imply that casual visitors would be unable to pick up some of the significant references which make the tea house so important. If I had the time I would be more than happy to explain the significance to each and every one of you, but there just isn't enough room.

That being said, if you have taken general Japanese history and/or Japanese art history, you should be able to understand a fair bit.

The marker for Daisen-in within the Daitokuji complex.

Ninnaji

January 24, 2016 by Brennan Duff in Temples

Settled in on the northern side of Kyoto not too far down the road from Ryoanji is the Imperial villa which was converted into a temple by Emperor Koko in the early Heian period as the public interest in the growing Amida Buddha worship of the Shingon sect of Buddhist. The buildings are 17th century restorations of the original 9th century buildings funded by Prince Kakushin with additional backing from the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ninnaji is known for the grand nature of the buildings in particular the main gate, the villa, and a five story pagoda near the end of the main path. Ninnaji was established as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

For the casual: 10. For the educated: 10.

So I figure I might as well say this here, but for the majority of the places I visited in Kyoto, I have a feeling that they're all going to be ranked very high. Maybe not all 10/10 like this, but I can't imagine too many below 8/8. Ninnaji is not one of the temples that draws the major crowds like Kinkakuji or some of the others, but because of that the crowds should be rather small. Now as I've said before in other Kyoto posts, going to many of these sites will cost some money to enter, not even a medium amount, but they will ask for some money for tickets (usually about 500 yen or so). Why am I talking money? Because I had the unfortunate experience of being behind two other Americans realizing that going to the temple is free, but all the real stuff is in the villa off to the right which costs money. Sadly, they said no, and they made a huge mistake doing so. Again, this is another reason why I hope you are reading this, to help decide what to spend money on a what not to. Missing the villa is like passing the Mona Lisa, its beauty is screaming out to you, and yet you don't even look. The villa is Imperial which means that it is super well kept. Beautiful painted sliding doors, the best woodwork, hanging scrolls of emperors and other patrons adorn the wall, and finally the small but intimate prayer hall for Amida. Ninnaji doesn't seem like much of a temple compared to other complexes, but who cares, it's awesome!

A small statue of Amida Buddha in the final hall of the villa.