Temple · Higashiyama / Sakyo

Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) 銀閣寺 (慈照寺)

The understated counterpart to the Golden Pavilion: a never-silvered Muromachi pavilion, a sculpted cone of white sand and a moss garden on a hillside path with views over the city.

About

Officially Jisho-ji, Ginkaku-ji was built from 1482 as the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, grandson of Kinkaku-ji's founder, and it became the centre of Higashiyama culture, the aesthetic that shaped the tea ceremony, ikebana, Noh and the shoin room. Despite its nickname the Kannon-den pavilion was never covered in silver; its weathered dark lacquer is the point, an early statement of wabi-sabi restraint. In front of it lie the Ginshadan, a raked sea of white sand, and the Kogetsudai, a flat-topped sand cone said to catch moonlight, both later Edo additions. The Togu-do hall holds Dojinsai, considered the oldest surviving four-and-a-half-mat tea room in Japan (shown only during special openings). The path then climbs through some of Kyoto's finest moss gardens to a lookout over the pavilion with the city and Yoshida-yama behind. In April 2026 the temple doubled its admission fee to 1,000 yen, its first increase since 1994, citing the cost of maintaining the buildings and garden.

Highlights

• Kannon-den, the 1489 two-storey pavilion and a National Treasure
• Kogetsudai, a 2 m flat-topped cone of white sand, and the raked Ginshadan
• Hillside moss garden with dozens of moss varieties
• Lookout over the pavilion and the rooftops of northern Kyoto
• Start or end point of the Philosopher's Path

Tips

• The fee rose to 1,000 yen from 1 April 2026, so older guidebooks are out of date.
• Go right at opening; by late morning the narrow lane from the bus stop is packed.
• Walk south along the Philosopher's Path afterward to Honen-in, Eikando and Nanzen-ji.
• Look for special openings of the Togu-do and Hondo in spring and autumn; they cost extra and show Yosa Buson and Ike no Taiga paintings.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Philosopher's PathPark · 310 m away
• Omen GinkakujiRestaurant · 320 m away
• Honen-inTemple · 390 m away
• Hakusasonso Hashimoto Kansetsu Garden & MuseumGarden · 450 m away
• Daimonji-yama HikeVista & View · 630 m away
• Shinnyo-do TempleTemple · 1.0 km away
• Hinode UdonRestaurant · 1.2 km away
• Yoshida ShrineShrine · 1.2 km away