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Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
Kinkaku-ji is a temple in Kyoto, Japan, with a building covered in shiny gold! It stands beside a pond, and you can see it reflected in the water.
Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, is in the north-west of Kyoto, Japan. Its well-known pavilion has three floors, and the top two are covered in pure gold leaf. It stands at the edge of a pond in a garden. The pavilion burned down in 1950, and an exact copy was finished in 1955.
Kinkaku-ji, officially Rokuon-ji, grew from the Kitayama villa that the retired shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu took over in 1397; after his death it became a temple in 1422. Its three-story Golden Pavilion, gilded on the upper two floors and set at the edge of the Kyoko-chi pond, burned to the ground in 1950 and was reproduced exactly by 1955. It is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site (1994).
Photo: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Kinkaku-ji
Kinkaku-ji is in Kyoto, a city in Japan. Its best-known building is covered in gold!
The golden building stands by a pond, with green trees and hills all around.
Kinkaku-ji is in the north-west corner of Kyoto, Japan, with mountains to the west and behind it. Its Golden Pavilion is so well known that the whole temple is called Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Its official name is Rokuon-ji.
The pavilion stands at the edge of a pond in a large garden. The garden covers 92,400 square meters, most of the temple grounds.
The temple's own site places it in Kinkakuji-cho, Kita-ku, in the north-western corner of Kyoto, with Kinugasayama to the west and Hidari Daimonjiyama behind it. The Golden Pavilion is so well known that the temple is called Kinkaku-ji, though its official name is Rokuon-ji, taken from Yoshimitsu's posthumous name.
The Rokuon-ji garden takes up 92,400 m² of about 132,000 m² of grounds and is designated a unique historic and scenic landmark. Kyoto City notes that the garden borrows Mount Kinugasayama as 'borrowed scenery' (shakkei).
- Where
- Kinkakuji-cho, Kita-ku, north-west Kyoto, Japan
- Official name
- Rokuon-ji
- Garden
- 92,400 m² of about 132,000 m² of grounds
- World Heritage
- 1994, Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
From a villa to a temple
Long ago, a powerful ruler made a beautiful country home here, with a golden building.
After he died, his home became a temple.
In the Kamakura period, the land held a country estate of the noble Saionji family. In 1397, the retired shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu took it over and turned it into an elegant villa called Kitayama-dono, centered on a golden pavilion.
After Yoshimitsu died, the villa became a temple in 1422, as he had wished. Later the temple fell into decline, but the pavilion and gardens were restored in the Edo period.
Kyoto City records that the site began as a Kamakura-period aristocrat's country estate and was taken over in 1397 by the retired shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who made it the refined Kitayama villa (Kitayama-dono). It became a Zen temple in 1422, after his death, with Muso Soseki as founding abbot.
The temple's site says that the temple suffered damage during the Onin War (1467–77), but the Golden Pavilion and some other halls escaped destruction; after a later decline, the pavilion and gardens were largely restored in the Edo period. The temple first opened to the public in 1894.
Three floors, three styles
The Golden Pavilion has three floors. The top two are covered with real gold!
A shining golden bird stands on the very top of the roof.
The pavilion's three floors are each built in a different style. The first floor is in the style of an old palace, the second in the style of a samurai house, and the third in the style of a Chinese Zen temple.
The second and third floors are lacquered and covered with pure gold leaf. The roof is made of many thin planks of cypress wood, and a shining golden bird stands on top.
According to the temple's guide, the first story (Hossui-in) follows the Heian palace style, shinden-zukuri; the second (Cho'on-do) the buke-zukuri style of Kamakura-period samurai houses; and the third (Kukkyo-cho) the style of Chinese Zen temples. It calls this blend a masterful example of Muromachi-period architecture.
The lacquered second and third stories are adorned with pure gold leaf, and the roof is shingled with countless thin planks of sawara cypress. In the autumn of 1987 the lacquer and gold leaf were reapplied.
Burned and built again
In 1950, the golden building burned down. People built a new one, just like the old one.
It was finished in 1955.
In 1950, the Golden Pavilion burned to the ground. An exact copy of the original building was finished in 1955. In 1987, its lacquer and gold leaf were put on again.
The pavilion looks out over the Kyoko-chi pond, which covers about 6,600 square meters and has islands of different sizes and special rocks.
Kyoto City states that the building was burned to the ground in 1950 and that an exact reproduction of the original was completed in 1955; the temple adds that the lacquer and gold leaf were reapplied in the autumn of 1987.
The central Kyoko-chi pond, about 6,600 m², contains islands of various sizes, such as Ashihara-jima, and well-known rock formations such as the Hatakeyama stone. Kyoto City says the pavilion was built at the edge of the pond as part of the garden's design.
- Reproduction completed
- 1955
- Gold leaf reapplied
- autumn 1987
- Kyoko-chi pond
- about 6,600 m², with islands
A golden reflection
In this photo, the gold pavilion shines in the sun. Can you find its reflection in the pond?
This photo was taken on 13 June 2019. The golden pavilion stands at the edge of the pond, and the still water shows its reflection upside down. Pine trees grow on a small rocky island in front, and wooded hills rise behind.
The golden top floors and the darker wooden first floor are easy to tell apart.
The photograph (13 June 2019, by Basile Morin, a Wikimedia Commons featured picture) shows the pavilion across the Kyoko-chi pond: the gilded second and third floors, the wooden first floor, the shingled roofs with the golden bird on top, a rocky islet with pines in the foreground and the wooded hills behind, all mirrored in the water.
The temple belongs to the Shokoku-ji branch, and the abbot of Shokoku-ji also oversees Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji.
Amazing facts
-
The top two floors are covered in real gold!
The second and third floors of the Golden Pavilion are lacquered and covered with pure gold leaf.
The lacquered second and third stories are adorned with pure gold leaf, reapplied in the autumn of 1987.
-
Each floor of the golden building is built in a different style!
The first floor is in an old palace style, the second in a samurai house style and the third in a Chinese Zen temple style.
Shinden-zukuri, buke-zukuri and the Chinese Zen temple style are combined in the pavilion's three stories.
-
The garden borrows a mountain as part of its view!
The garden was designed to include nearby Mount Kinugasayama as 'borrowed scenery'.
Kyoto City notes that the garden incorporates Mount Kinugasayama as shakkei, borrowed scenery.
Words to know
- pavilion
- a building, often light and open, that stands in a garden or park
- gold leaf
- gold hammered into very thin sheets and used to cover things
- lacquer
- a shiny coating painted on wood to protect and decorate it
- shogun
- a military ruler of Japan in the past
- villa
- a large country house
- reflection
- a picture you see in water or a mirror
Discovery challenge
-
What covers the top floors of the pavilion?
What covers the second and third floors of the Golden Pavilion?
What adorns the lacquered second and third stories of the pavilion?
- Gold leaf
- Seashells
- Snow
Show the answer
Gold leaf
Shiny gold!
Pure gold leaf.
Pure gold leaf.
-
Which country is Kinkaku-ji in?
In which country is the city of Kyoto?
In which country is Kyoto, home of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto?
- Japan
- Egypt
- Mexico
Show the answer
Japan
Japan!
Japan.
Japan.
-
How many floors does the golden building have?
How many floors does the Golden Pavilion have?
How many stories, each in its own style, make up the pavilion?
- 3
- 1
- 10
Show the answer
3
Three floors!
Three.
Three.
-
When was the new golden building finished?
In which year was the exact copy of the Golden Pavilion completed?
In which year was the exact reproduction completed after the 1950 fire?
- 1955
- 1397
- 2005
Show the answer
1955
In 1955!
1955.
1955.
-
What does the golden building stand next to?
At the edge of what does the Golden Pavilion stand?
At the edge of which feature, about 6,600 m², was the pavilion built?
- A pond
- A volcano
- A desert
Show the answer
A pond
A pond!
A pond.
The Kyoko-chi pond.
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Kiyomizu-dera
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain what gold leaf is and how it can cover a whole building.
- Describe how one building can mix three styles of architecture.
- Talk about why people might rebuild a well-known building exactly as it was.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- The pavilion was rebuilt as an exact copy. Is a careful copy still special? Why?
- The garden 'borrows' a mountain as part of its view. What would you borrow for your own garden view?
- Why might a calm pond make a good mirror?
Try at home or in class
- Make a three-floor pavilion from small boxes and cover the top two with gold paper.
- Set a small object beside a tray of water and look at its reflection from different angles.
Key vocabulary: pavilion, gold leaf, lacquer, shogun, villa, reflection
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- About Kinkaku-ji , Shokoku-ji
- Kinkaku-ji guide , Shokoku-ji
- M. Rokuon-ji (World Heritage Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto) , City of Kyoto, Preservation of Cultural Properties Section
- File:Water reflection of Kinkaku-ji Temple a sunny day, Kyoto, Japan.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.