70
{
}
thousands of vermillion
torii
,
Shinto
gates donated by Japanese businesses
as an offering to Inari, the Shinto God of
Rice, regarded as the patron of wealth.
It felt surreal walking in what seemed
like an endless path of vibrant torii,
which trailed up the hill along lush
trees.
While my heartbeat went faster upon
seeing the Fushimi Inari Taisha, the
Kinkaku-ji, on the other hand, nearly
made my heart stop. In the middle of
a lush garden filled with maple, pine
and bonsai trees, was a gold-coated
pavilion whose blinding magnificence
was wonderfully mirrored by a tranquil,
surrounding pond.
Kinkaku-ji was once a villa owned by
a shogun named Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
in the 14th century. Upon Yoshimitsu’s
death, his son had it converted to
a Zen Buddhist temple according
to his father’s wishes. It may not be
evident now from the way it looks, but
the pavilion, was burned down by a
schizophrenic monk in the 1950s, and
was reconstructed in 1955, with its
present gold leaf coating completed in
1987.
Gold is said to be important to
the pavilion, and is meant to mitigate
and purify any negative thoughts and
feelings towards death.
Though this treasure can only be
admired from the outside, I was able to
experience what it was like to be inside
the former residence of Tokugawa
Shogunate — a feudal Japanese
military government — in the 17th-
century-old Nijo Castle.
I walked barefoot on its cold wooden
floors, into countless rooms, chambers
Clockwise from
top: Orange leaves
signal the advent
of autumn; the
mangnificent
Kinkaku-ji; serene,
sculpted gardens
Kinkaku-ji is
almost completely
wrapped in gold
J A P A N F O R B E G I N N E R S
