「Kinkakuji、EGolden Pavillion originally uploaded by kilcher

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion Temple) is the informal name of Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺, Deer Garden Temple) in Kyoto, Japan. It was originally built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as part of his estate then known as Kitayama.^[1] It was his son who converted the building into a Zen temple of the Rinzai school. The temple was burned down twice during the Ōnin War.