Construction of Ginkaku-ji

Timeline

1. 1482–1483Higashiyama · HigashiyamaAfter the fighting of the Onin War subsided, Ashikaga Yoshimasa selected a site for his retirement villa in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto and began building the Higashiyama estate in 1482. The project included a residence, gardens, and spaces for Buddhist worship, intended to distance him from shogunate politics and house his painting, calligraphy, tea utensils, and Zen practice.
2. 1483–1489Higashiyama estate · HigashiyamaThe Kannon-den (popularly called the Silver Pavilion) was completed in the late 1480s, a two-story pavilion facing the garden pond; the Kogetsudai, Ginshadan, and other sand gardens together with the surrounding moss-covered hills formed the characteristic Higashiyama landscape. Yoshimasa convened renga, tea, and ink-painting gatherings here, fixing the spatial core of Higashiyama culture.
3. 1490Jisho-ji · HigashiyamaAfter Ashikaga Yoshimasa died in 1490, the Higashiyama estate was converted according to his last wishes into a Rinzai Zen temple of the Shokoku-ji branch, taking the temple name Jisho-ji. The villa thus passed from a shogun's retirement residence to a Zen temple, and the Silver Pavilion was preserved as the material symbol of Higashiyama culture.