飛雲閣

About this photo

This photo, cropped into an oval, shows the Hiunkaku (Flying Cloud Pavilion), which stands beside a pond in the southeast part of the grounds of Nishi Honganji. It appears in Kyoto Meishocho (Album of Famous Places in Kyoto), published in 1907.

The Hiunkaku is a three-story building that looks out over Soro Pond. On the first floor are the Shokenden hall and a tea room, the second floor has the Kasen no Ma, a room painted with the Thirty-six Immortal Poets, and the third floor is called Tekiseiro. Each floor has a different roof shape, and although the building is not symmetrical, it holds together well as a whole. With its slender pillars and many shoji screens, it is said to take its name from the way it seems to float like a cloud in the sky. It has long been said to have been moved from Jurakudai, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's palace, but most researchers doubt this, and the truth is not known.

It is sometimes counted with the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku) and the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku) as one of the "three pavilions of Kyoto." It is a National Treasure and was repaired from 2017 to 2020. It is usually closed to the public, but a tea gathering is held there on May 21 for Gotan-e, the celebration of the birth of Shinran, founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.

Glossary