Kinkakuji, or more commonly known as the Temple of Golden Pavilion, is one of the most famous temples in Japan. It is almost like the symbol of Japan. Japanese temples have a distinct difference from Chinese temples. Chinese temples tend to emphasis on the statues, which is quite understandable because that's precisely the reason many visitors are there. Japanese temples tend to emphasis more on the garden, or the 'feel'. Their statues are in general quite small, sometimes even hard to see.
Being a famous temple in Japan, Kinkakuji is always crowded, with bus loads of tourists from in & outside of Japan, and the many many Japanese students embarking on their 'study' tour. Then I admire the foresight the founder/architect of Kinkakuji had. What do you hate most at touristic sites? Whenever you want to take a photo, there are always crowds of other tourists in the backaground! In Kinkakuji, you have less of such problem.
The golden pavilion is built at the one side of a pond called the 'mirror' pond. Tourists can't step into the golden pavilion, but only to admire its beauty from the other side of the mirror pond. As a result, everybody has a clean and beautiful photo of the golden pavilion, without the crowds of tourists in the background!
The admission is 400 yen. Their admission ticket is no other than a charm on a piece of paper that will protect you and family from any harm :)
Definitely this is a place you should not miss if you are visiting Kyoto.
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