Kinkaku (Shariden of Rokuon-ji)

Timeline

1. 1397Kitayama, Kyoto · KyotoAshikaga Yoshimitsu, already retired as Ogosho, acquired the dilapidated Kitayama villa of the Saionji family and converted it into Kitayama-dai. He specially developed the shariden, faced in gold leaf, as the core of his villa for Buddhist worship and banquets. Kitayama-dai then became the shogunate's political and artistic Kitayama base.
2. 1397–1408Kitayama-dai · KyotoYoshimitsu received courtiers, Zen monks, and Noh performers at Kitayama; the splendor and Zen taste represented by Kinkaku became the symbol of so-called Kitayama culture. In 1408 he hosted Emperor Go-Komatsu's visit here and died months later. The villa thus reached a turning point from private estate toward temple.
3. 1408–1410Rokuon-ji · KyotoAfter Yoshimitsu's death, shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi, following his wishes, converted Kitayama-dai into a Rinzai temple, using the dharma name Rokuon and honoring Musō Soseki as founder, with Kinkaku becoming the temple's shariden. The private villa was thus institutionalized as a Zen temple, and Kinkaku's cultural meaning shifted from shogunal villa to religious architecture.
4. 1410Rokuon-ji · KyotoDuring the Ōnin War many halls of Kitayama-dai were destroyed, but Kinkaku itself largely survived into modern times. The shariden was burned by arson in 1950 and rebuilt to old specifications with new gold leaf in 1955. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto in 1994, Kinkaku continues to be visited and maintained as a symbol of Kitayama culture.