Ginkaku-ji, officially known as Jisho-ji, is a Zen temple which was constructed by the eighth Ashikaga shogun Yoshimasa, the grandson of Yoshimitsu, as his mountain villa in the Eastern Hills of Kyoto. Modeled after Kinkaku, the Golden Pavilion, the two-storied pavilion known as Ginkaku, the Silver Pavilion, symbolizes the culture of the Higashiyama period in the 15th century. The subdued appearance of the Silver Pavilion with a beautiful sand garden represents the Zen aestheticism of wabi-sabi.
(正式名慈照寺の銀閣寺は、足利義満の孫である八代将軍義政により山荘王として京都東山に建築された禅寺である。金閣を模して造営された二重楼閣の銀閣は、15世紀の東山文化を象徴する。この控えめな外観の銀閣と美しい砂の庭園は、禅美学の「わび・さび」を表わす)