22. Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto
In Nara, we were on our own. We met Carolyn in Kyoto which was Japan's second capital. Edo (Tokyo) became the seat of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603 and Kyoto became marginalized. In 1868 The emperor Meiji adopted Edo as his capital. This is the Golden Temple originally built in 1397 as a retirement villa for the third Shogunate. A monk obsessed with it's charm burned it in 1950 and it was rebuilt 1955 with gold leaf five times the original thickness. It was finished completely in 1987.