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<event>
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    <images>
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			<comment><![CDATA[Morning of July 7th, 2002. Niles saying hello to a cute, little dog on our way from the bus station to Ginkaku-ji.  We left Kyoto for Tokyo after this stop.]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[<a href="http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hstj/sakyo/ginkakuj.html"> Ginkaku-ji </a> (Silver Pavilion) Temple.  But the temple is not silver; it was only intended to be.]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[Entrance of the Ginkaku-ji.  It was built in 1489 during the Muromachi Period by Shogun Asikaga Yoshimasa.  Its is considered to be an outstanding example of Muromachi Period landscape architecture. ]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1101.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[Shogun Yoshimasa Ashikaga, who commissioned Ginkaku-ji as his retirement villa, was disillutioned with politics.  He gave his full attention to the construction of his villa and to romance, moon gazing, and the tea ceremony, which he helped develop into a high art.]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[Ginkaku-ji is famous for its complex gardens, which consist of two contrasting garden sctions that yield a balanced and harmonious result.  One section is the sand garden shown here, named "Sea of Silver Sand".  We read the the sand garden sparkles in the moonlight and hence the name.
<p>The other garden section is the pond garden adjacent to the pavilion.</p>
]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[Exquisite paintings on the wooden panels.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1105.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[Lush green forest is the backdrop of Ginkaku-ji's beautiful gardens.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1106.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[The sand garden has a perfectly sculpted cone-shaped mound of sand, said to symbolize Mt. Fuji.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1107.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[Meticulously raked sand, symbolizing gently flowing water.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1108.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[The pond garden.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1109.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[The pond garden of Ginkaku-ji.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1110.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[The whole garden demonstrates perfectionism.  For example, every drainage is clevely covered with bamboo.]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[Another example of perfectionism - this gardener is manicuring the moss that covers the ground!]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[The pathway leads up to the hill, where you can get a view of the whole temple and its gardens, and a good portion of the Kyoto city.]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[View of the whole Ginkaku-ji from the hill.  You can see the Kyoto city afar as well.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1120.JPG"/>
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			<comment><![CDATA[The main building is the unadorned two-story pavilion, Ginkaku-ji itself.  The romantic shogun never had time to complete the coating of the pavilion with silver foil, as he had originally intended to.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1123.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[At the death of the shogun, his villa was converted into a Buddhaist temple, as was often the custom during the feudal era.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1124.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[Ginkaku-ji, the pavilion, is a simple, unadorned two-story building.  Its appeal lies in the serene exterior shape, which combines Chinese elements with the developing Japanese Muro-machi architecture.]]></comment>
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			<comment><![CDATA[Niles took a morning nap while we were strolling in the Ginkaku-ji gardens.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1131.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[A design on the floor nearby the restrooms.  Not sure if it is another clever disguse of a drainage.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1132.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[Even this quiet corner of the garden is full of Japanese aesthetics.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1133.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[Niles enjoying the mixed fruit shake on this hot summer day.  He also made friend with the pet parrot, who lived in a cage by the red coach.]]></comment>
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		<image name="IMG_1135.JPG">
			<comment><![CDATA[At our visit to Ginkaku-ji, we had brunch at a small French cafe (we wanted a change from Japanese food).]]></comment>
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    </images>
</event>
