Silver Pavilion

…retirement he built the famous Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji) in the Higashiyama, or Eastern Hills, area of Kyōto. There he practiced the Japanese tea ceremony, which he developed into a fine art, and sponsored many noted artists, potters, and nō (classical dance-drama) performers. Today the Higashiyama period, as this cultural era…

…and built a detached residence—the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji)—in the Higashiyama section of Kyōto, where he lived in elegance and refinement, paying little attention to matters of government. The political power of the bakufu thus became virtually nonexistent, and real power came into the hands of the chief administrators of the…

Yoshimasa’s Silver Pavilion and its garden in eastern Kyōto (now part of the Jishō Temple) truly reflect Higashiyama (“Eastern Mountain”) culture. This somber temple (never covered, as planned, with silver) and its serene surroundings—in marked contrast to the ostentation of the Golden Pavilion—represent the essence of…