Kinkakuji is probably Kyoto's most famous and certainly most photographed temple garden. The three-story Chinese Zen-influenced Golden Pavilion has delicately curving roofs and the walls and eaves of the second and third stories are covered with fine gold leaf. On a clear day the villa is reflected in the mirror pond which lies in front of the building. The present structure, dating from 1955, is a copy of the original built in 1397 by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. It was razed to the ground in 1950 by an infatuated young monk, providing the theme for Yukio Mishima's novel Kinkakuji.
