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Ginkaku-ji, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion, is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represent the Higashiyama Culture of Murom chi period.

Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated tactics for creating a retirement villa and gardens as early as 1460; and after his death, Yoshimasa would assemble for this property to become a Zen temple. The official name is Jishō-ji or the "Temple of Shining Mercy." The temple is today linked with the Shokoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen.

The two-storied Kannon-den is the major temple structure. Its construction began February 21, 1482.The structure's design sought to emulate the golden Kinkaku-ji which had been commissioned by his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimasa. It is popularly known as Ginkaku, the "Silver Pavilion" because of the primary plans to cover its exterior in silver foil; but this familiar nickname dates back only as far as the Edo period (1600–1868).

During the Onin War, construction was halted. Despite Yoshimasa intention to cover the structure with a distinctive silver-foil overlay, this work was delayed for so long that the plans were never realized before Yoshimasa death. The present appearance of the structure is understood to be the same as when Yoshimasa himself last saw it. This "incomplete" appearance illustrates one of the aspects of "wabi-sabi" quality.

 Like Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji was originally built to serve as a place of rest and solitude for the Shogun. During his reign as Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa inspired a new expression of traditional culture, which came to be known as Higashiyama Bunka. Having retired to the villa, it is said Yoshimasa sat in the pavilion, contemplating the calm and beauty of the grounds as the Onin War worsened and Kyoto was burned to the ground.

In 1485, Yoshimasa became a Zen Buddhist monk. After his death on January 27, 1490 the villa and gardens became a Buddhist temple complex, renamed Jisho-ji after Yoshimasa Buddhist name.

In addition to the temple's famous building, the property features wooded grounds covered with a variety of mosses. The Japanese garden, supposedly designed by the great landscape artist Soami. The sand garden of Ginkaku-ji has become particularly well known; and the carefully formed pile of sand which said to symbolize Mount Fuji is an essential element in the garden.