Kinkaku-ji, the reliquary hall of Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺), was the last remaining piece of Yoshimitsu's sprawling 'Kitayama-dono' (北山殿).

Massive in scale, the villa complex included a Northern Palace (北御所), Southern Palace (南御所) and home for Sukenmon-in (崇賢門院/藤原仲子), the mother of Emperor Go-En'yū.

'Hakuja-no-Tsuka' (白蛇の塚 'White Snake Mound') on 'Anmintaku' (安民沢 'Tranquility Pond') is thought to be where Saionji Kintsune (西園寺公経 1171-1244), after completing the first palace here, enshrined Benzaiten (her familiar is a white snake) so she might protect his wife whenever he was away from home.

Even in times of drought the pond never dried up, and so people began to pray to the small shrine here for rain during dry periods.

In 1397 Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満 1358-1408) purchased the old home of the Saionji family. Once a sprawling villa and lavish temple (after which the Saionji took their name), in 1335 Saionji Kinmune (西園寺公宗) rebelled against the emperor, lost, and the complex burnt in the struggle.

Each floor of Kinkaku-ji uses a different architectural style:

1) 'Hōsui-in' (法水院 'Chamber of Dharma Waters') = shinden-style (寝殿造 -palatial style).

2) 'Chōon-dō' (潮音洞 'The Sound of Waves Tower') = buke-style (武家造 -warrior style).

3) 'Kukkyō-chō' (究竟頂 'Cupola of the Ultimate') = zen-style (禅宗様).

The pavilion's newly installed fire alarm was not working at the time

After failing to kill himself, Hayashi Yōken (林養賢) was caught and imprisoned. The incident became inspiration for Mishima Yukio's (三島由紀夫 1925-70) book 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion'.

By the end of the Ōnin War (1467-77) only 1 of the Tōji-ji temples survived...Kitatōji-ji (北等持寺). It is this temple that we now know as Tōji-in.

The Ashikaga shōgunate was both a blessing and curse for Kyōto. The clan's patronage aided in an extraordinary blossoming of culture, but their weakening grip on power resulted in a 10 year civil war that completely destroyed the capital and led to the "Warring States period".