Japanese history

On the third morning of my recent research trip to Japan, we visited Ginkaku-ji, the “Temple of the Silver Pavilion,” named for its founder’s intended desire to overlay the roof of the temple pavilion with silver leaf. Time and cost defeated that plan, and the temple (largely constructed during the 15th century) retains its original wooden roof. Like many famous Japanese shrines, the entrance to Ginkaku-ji lies at the top of a narrow road lined with a variety of shops selling special snacks, souvenirs, soft-serve ice cream in flavors we don’t often see in the West (here, we saw peach and chestnut in