Kinkakuji Temple and Japanese Garden | Kyoto, Japan | A Stroll Through the Golden P avilion

What to say about Kinkaku-ji Temple, the Golden Pavilion? Yes, it's a tourist trap, but it's one that you shouldn't miss. Aesthetically, this temple is the opposite of Wabi Sabi, which is what I'm more drawn to, but I can respect its pursuit of perfection that the temple and the garden present. I see it as an extreme blend of a shizen style, where human creativity and nature coexist. It has Muromachi-era architecture and a kayushiki strolling garden. It is the Muromachi-style minimalist garden, so you need to take a minute to stop and appreciate that, which can be hard because of all the tourist and Japanese school trips that stomp through regularly. Yes, the bold gold pavilion is the main focus here, but pay attention to the calming and minimalist surrounding gardens. Yes, the gold is bold and it's the feature, the focal point, but its placement nestled in nature is what provides the supporting background, as well as the shakkei use of the surrounding mountains. This style of shakkei, or borrowed scenery, can be seen in a lot of gardens. Here, it's not so prominent, but it creates that feeling of being nestled in somewhere secluded. The trees surrounding the temple are even placed there to frame the picture of the pavilion, and the pond is perfectly designed to reflect the pavilion in the water from various viewing spots along the path, with the very bottom being open as it's technically a pavilion. The architecture is designed to pull the surrounding nature into the scene as well. The architecture is varied though. The first floor is done in a classical heian style. The second floor is more of an aristocratic samurai style from a bit later, and the third floor is a more Chinese-influenced muromachi style. But why gold? The deep concept behind it is that gold is there to purify the area and cleanse the thoughts of those meditating there. All in all though, there's no ignoring that the gold is flashy. This is now a zen buddhist temple, but it was originally designed as a retreat for the wealthy shogunate. If you visit there, I encourage you to not only focus on the gold building because I think you might be a little disappointed because it will end up being exactly as you imagine it, because we've seen thousands of pictures of this scene, and it will be no different. I get it, it can sort of be like a bucket list type of shot, but you're going to end up with the exact same photo that everyone else literally has. I encourage you to take a minute to appreciate all of the supporting characters. The minimalist garden design, the nature, the sculpted trees, the streams and ponds, the rustic tea house with a thatched roof that sits above it. Taken in its totality though, it really is a thing of beauty celebrating human creativity and nature. If you happen to be in the Kyoto area, I also encourage you to check out Sanzenin in Ohara. It's a little bit deeper on the outskirts of Kyoto, but it's not to be missed. Check out this video here.