Thursday, December 24, 2009

Kinkakuji



Kinkakuji, otherwise known as The Golden Pavilion, is probably the most famous of all Japan's landmarks. I had actually only been once before, on my first visit almost 5 years ago.



I'll admit that I was underwhelmed on that visit, as there really isn't much to do once you see the pavilion. You wait your turn, elbow a few people out of the way, take a few photos of the gold leaf covered temple, and then you're done!



However, this time with my expectations firmly in check, I enjoyed myself quite a bit more. Kinkakuji really is shockingly beautiful, and is ostentatious in a very low key Japanese sort of way.



Like most world famous sites, I think people expect Kinkakuji to 'be bigger' and more impressive, but if you can go and accept the temple on it's own terms, you'll get a glimpse of why it is so famous.

1 comment:

Mia said...

These are very good pictures.