Jishoji Temple (Ginkakuji)

Ginkakuji, the Retreat of Ashikaga Yoshimasa

The Jishoji Temple (Ginkakuji) (慈照寺, Jishoji), known as Ginkakuji, is a temple of the Shokokuji branch of Rinzai Zen in Ginkakuji-cho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, whose Muromachi-period Ginkaku (Kannon hall) and Togudo hall were both designated National Treasures in 1951.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the mountain villa that Ashikaga Yoshimasa built at Higashiyama in the Bunmei era (1469 to 1487) became Jishoji after his death; only the Ginkaku and the Togudo survive from that time.

The temple explains that Yoshimasa began the Higashiyama villa in 1482, completed the Togudo as his personal chapel in 1486 and raised the frame of the Ginkaku, formally the Kannon hall, in 1489, but died on 7 January the following year without seeing it finished.

The Ginkaku and the Togudo

According to the Agency, the Ginkaku, modelled on the Ruriden of Saihoji (the Moss Temple) and called the Kannon hall, was raised in 1489. Its lower storey, the Shinkuden, is in shoin style, and its upper storey, the Choonkaku, is a Buddhist hall with cusped windows and paneled doors. The Agency counts it with the Kinkaku as one of the two great pavilion buildings.

The Togudo, built in 1486 on the model of the Sairaido of Saihoji, faces south at the north corner of the pond; it is a personal chapel with four rooms, including the Buddha room and a four-and-a-half-mat study called the Dojinsai.

Building the Higashiyama Villa

The temple notes that Zen monks of Shokokuji advised Yoshimasa throughout the building of the villa. The Higashiyama villa is said to have been modelled on Saihoji, which he loved, but the Kannon hall followed the relic hall (Kinkaku) left by his grandfather Yoshimitsu.

The temple adds that the garden of the Higashiyama villa is the only surviving garden of all those Yoshimasa created.

Visiting Jishoji

Jishoji is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in summer (1 March to 30 November) and 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in winter (1 December to the end of February).

The nearest stop is Ginkakuji-michi on the city bus.