In the last remains of the afternoon light, we visited Kinkaku-ji, the temple of the golden pavilion.

I thought it would just be a pavilion painted in some golden colour, but the pavilion’s walls are literally covered in gold leaf. It shone quite spectacularly in the setting sun, in contrast to the dark pines surrounding it.

The pavilion was situated on the edge of a small lake. It looks so effortlessly beautiful. I have to wonder how much of it just was that way entirely naturally, and how much has been carefully curated and designed and pruned.