THE GOLDEN TEMPLE OF KYOTO Gabe Alvarez Crook County

During my home stay in Kakogawa, Japan, my host brother, Kentaro Tokunaga, and I traveled two hours by train to Kyoto to see many interesting sites. We saw a temple, a museum and a shrine. The last place we visited before returning home was the Kinkaku-ji Temple. I thought it was amazing, because I had never seen a golden temple of Japanese architecture before in my life. I remember when we entered through a gate, walked down a path around a pond and saw the Kinkaku-ji Temple overlooking the pond for the first time. We were instantly amazed and awed as we gazed at the Golden Temple. It was 3 stories tall, not painted or solid gold. It was made of wood that was wrapped with gold wires. We took pictures and walked around on the path. We were not allowed to go in it, because they want to preserve its natural beauty. The temple's architecture is magnificent. It has curved roof tops and two balconies. On top of the Kinkaku-ji Temple is a golden phoenix that looks like a dragon-peacock. As we walked along the path there were many small waterfalls. On the grounds, there was a replica of an old merchant's house. There was a little pond that had an island with a little statue talking about the legend of the pond and a sea serpent. We passed a knick-knack store with postcards, but didn't see anything we wanted, so we walked a little farther and found the main gift shop. I bought a doll for my sister that looked like her, and a fancy fan with a painted scene of butterflies for my other sister. I bought a fan with the Golden Temple painted on it and a bookmark with an owl on it for myself. As we headed home, we caught a bus to the train station, had dinner at an Italian restaurant and headed back to Kakogawa. When I got home, I looked up the history of the Kinkaku-ji temple and learned that it dates back to 1397. It was a retirement villa on an estate, then a Zen temple. The temple burned down during the Onin War. I also learned that the pavilion houses relics of Buddha including his ashes. There is a Silver Temple in Kyoto also, called Ginkaku-ji, which I did not visit. Perhaps next time I'm in Japan I'll go to both the Golden Temple and Silver Temple.

The pavilion was burned down by a monk in 1950. The temple that I saw was built in 1955. A new coating of lacquer and gold-leaf was completed in 1987, and the roof was restored in 2003. The Japanese people take very good care of their temples and shrines. I hope that I will visit Japan again someday. I hope to see more temples, shrines and museums and learn about their history and their importance to the Japanese culture.