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Kinkaku-ji's Relics Hall (Shariden), commonly known as the Golden Pavilion, is so well known that the entire temple has come to be called Kinkaku-ji, but the temple's official name is Rokuon-ji. It was named after the third Ashikaga shogun Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) and was part of his private Kitayama villa. Kinkaku-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple belonging to the Shôkoku-ji branch. Rokuon (Deer Park) was the site of Shakyamuni's first sermon after attaining enlightenment, and Rokuon'in was Yoshimitsu's posthumous name.
Yoshimitsu retired in 1394 in favor of his nine-year-old son Yoshimochi, and the following year, at the youthful age of thirty-eight, took full Buddhist orders. His decision seems to have been informed by both his past experiences and hopes for the future. He had succeeded to the post of shogun as a boy of nine, upon the death of his father Yoshiakira, and in the twenty-nine years of his reign he faced many challenges-which he rose to admirably, successfully resolving the schism between into Northern and Southern imperial courts, reuniting Japan, and bringing peace to the realm. Having accomplished this, he apparently longed for freedom from the demands of official life and wished to live in a less restricted fashion, following his personal inclinations. After taking possession of the dilapidated Saion-ji and Kitayamadai from the Saionji clan, Yoshimitsu began the construction of his new residence, the Kitayama palace, in 1397. The design of both the architecture and gardens exhibited the epitome of refinement, but he devoted the most attention to the Relics Hall-the Golden Pavilion.
In 1408, Yoshimitsu held a magnificent ceremony for the imperial visit of Emperor Gokomatsu (r. 1392-1412) which came to be known as the Imperial Visit to Kitayama and remains a well known event to this day. Yoshimitsu resided at Kinkaku-ji until his death at the age of 51. It was after the death of Yoshimitsu that Yoshimochi (1386-1428) designated Musô Soseki the honorary founder of the temple and officially named it Rokuon-ji.
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