Kyoto—Kinkakuji

“The Kinkakuji (the gold-covered pavilion) and the Ginkakuji (the silver-covered pavilion) stand at opposite sides of the city, each surrounded with landscape-gardens, from which nearly all Japanese gardens are copied. The Kinkakuji is the larger, and was even more splendid before it was despoiled of so many rare and historic stones and garden ornaments, but the palace is still a paradise. Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga Shogun, built the Kinkakuji, and thither the great Ashikaga retired to end his life. … The pretty Little palace at the lake’s edge, with its golden roof and lacquered walls has successfully withstood the centuries, and is still in tact.”

Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, Jinrikisha Days in Japan, (New York, 1891) p. 250