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Commonly known as the Kinkaku-ji, the so-called "Golden Temple" is actually an outbuilding of the Rokuon-ji temple. It is also known as the Golden Pavilion or in Japanese, "Kinkaku" where "Kin" means "gold". The original building was constructed in the year 1397 under the patronage of the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and has been maintained until this day by the resident monks.







Over 1.5 million people visit Kinkaku-ji every year and the pavilion's structure and surrounding grounds have been branded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is no "best time" to pay a visit - each season brings its own unique flavor. The vivid greens of Spring and Summer, the reds and ochres of Autumn and perhaps most especially Winter's light sprinkles of brilliant white snow all complement and enhance the luminous glow and harmonious lines of this truly exceptional structure.









Although Kinkaku-ji may appear to display an ethereal and timeless beauty, its history has not always been so serene. Tragedy struck in 1950 when a schizophrenic monk driven by voices that hated beauty, decided burn it to the ground. The story of the monk named Hayashi Yōken was told in novelist Yukio Mishima's notorious semi-fictional book "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" and was first published in English in 1959. The monk was captured and imprisoned (where he was interviewed by Mishima) after bragging about his crime to a prostitute. His mother who was unable to bear the shame committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a train. Yōken was released from prison in 1955 due to his illness and died a year later. By that time the restoration of the Golden Temple into its original specifications was already in full swing.









Reconstruction of the pavilion took many years of painstaking labor. The trademark gold leaf coverings on the upper floors were not completed until 1987 and their application was fraught with difficulty as only a few craftsmen were trained in such a specialized field. It was not until 2003 that the roof of the restored pavilion (which features a stylized golden phoenix perched at the nave) was finished to appease the satisfaction of the temple's monks.






The main problem the restorers encountered was in applying the exceptionally delicate gold leaf. Though only a mere five-10,000ths of a millimeter thick, it still took some 200,000 individual gold foils weighing a total of 20 kilograms (44 lbs.) to cover the pavilion's upper floors. Applying the foils was a painstaking chore that forced workers to hold their breaths for fear of wrinkling the surface through the impact of their exhalations! What's more, parts of the process had to be repeated when it was found that the exceedingly thin, one-10,000ths of a millimeter thick foils used in the 1950s had begun to peel away from the underlying structure.









These days, maintenance of the Golden Temple's exquisite visage is entrusted to one single man: 67-year-old Takesato Yagyu. You can read about Yagyu's devoted dedication to the Kinkaku-ji in detail right here. According to Yagyu the pavilion's original gold decorations were not rigorously maintained and after more than 500 years, little gold leaf was left. In this respect it can be said that the modern restoration of this iconic symbol of Japan has returned the Kinkaku-ji's appearance of the 14th century rather than 1949 (the year before the arson attack). After viewing the Golden Pavilion in all its restored glory, lit up and glowing serenely on a warm and fragrant Kyoto evening, I don't think anyone can argue against that!

Article by Steve Levenstein from Inventor Spot. Steve writes about weird and wonderful Japanese innovations on a regular basis and you can catch up on current & previous examples at his blog. Submit your thoughts - click here!

Apparently, blind people can "see" better with the aid of a bioptic device, a miniature telescope, that is fitted over the top of the lens in their eye. Thus, their vision is improved up to the point that they can drive a car legally - and you wouldn't see such sights as these:


This article was written by Michelle Dyer from Writing Circle. Michelle is totally blind and yet she can put blogs together. Not just thought provoking but inspiring as well! If you are interested in contributing to the thinking process and become a guest writer on The Thinking Blog, find out more information here and be my guest!

The amount of literary and archaeological evidence attests to the belief in the evil eye in the eastern Mediterranean for more than a millennium starting with Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. Studying these written sources in order to write on the evil eye only gives a fragmented view of the subject whether it presents a folkloric, theological, classical or anthropological approach to the evil eye. While these different approaches tend to reference similar sources each presents a different yet similar usage of the evil eye, that the fear of the evil eye is based on the belief that certain people posses eyes whose glance has the power to injure or even kill and that it can be intentional or unintentional.

In some forms, it is the belief that some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their magical eye. The most common form, however, attributes the cause to envy, with the envious person casting the evil eye doing so unintentionally. Also the effects on victims vary. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye can cause disease, wasting away, and even death. In most cultures, the primary victims are thought to be babies and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon by strangers or by childless women. The late UC Berkeley professor of folklore Alan Dundes has explored the beliefs of many cultures and found a commonality — that the evil caused by the gaze is specifically connected to symptoms of drying, desiccation, withering, and dehydration, that its cure is related to moistness, and that the immunity from the evil eye that fish have in some cultures is related to the fact that they are always wet. His essay "Wet and Dry: The Evil Eye" is a standard text on the subject.

Known as nazar, the evil eye talisman is particularly common in Turkey. Colourful beads, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and all manner of decoration may be adorned by this particularly popular symbol, and it is possible to see it on almost anything, from babies, horses, doors to cars, cell phones and even airplanes. Disks or balls consisting of concentric blue and white circles (usually, from outside to inside, dark blue, white, light blue, black) representing evil eyes, the "nazar" is supposed to bend the malicious gaze back to the sorcerer.

So, next time you visit Turkey, make sure you pick up some of these for yourself, family, friends and loved ones - and protect them from those evil eyes!

If you have a strong character, you know very well how to change your roles according to the environment or the loved ones that are around. Even if you don't know a person, due to immensely developed instincts, you are able to predict how to act around whoever it may be and act accordingly. If not, here are some of the roles that women try to squeeze into one way of living:

Business Woman: When you are with your family or your friends you can be as understanding, indulgent or close to heart as you like. However, you know very well that in business life the rules are different and even more merciless than ever. Many women have received education for years, prepared for examinations on sleepless nights and have done everything to finish school. Such women want to obtain a good job, want to be successful in their profession and want to establish a career. Hence if you are within the life of business that means that the business woman role is indispensable. In a place where men have taken control over the world, you are ready to claw your way up, proving your worth, surpassing the barriers that those who are jealous of you have placed in front of you, gaining credit from your boss and later earning the promotion that you have much deserved. While constantly efforting to play your role according to the rules, you also try to balance your emotional life, maintain your relations within friendship, spend time with your family and keep busy with your children (if you have any). Consequently the successful business woman role is one which is most tiring and one where it is easy to lose hope because no matter how talented you are, how successful you are in this role depends not only on you but also on people in your work environment. So, the key here is to never give up!

Daddy's Girl: Even the strongest mother or the most mature woman is most certainly her father's little princess. When an already unstable situation devolves into utter chaos, women take refuge amongst the wings of their fathers. We leave ourselves to be soothed by our father's attention, love, warm consolations and his advice which always works. A woman who has felt the pleasure of being close with her father means that being able to grasp life by the core and be more confident in her further life will be much easier. Emotional support aside, when it comes to material support such as when we are broke, if we have been forced out of work, when we cannot pay our rent or when we try to buy a car, our father will try to help as best as he can. We try to make use of his life experience, his information about people and his forward-thinking mentality. In fact, sometimes we end up with men who are exactly like him!

The Housewife: However modern you may be, however much you bind with your business woman profile, if you have not developed a skill to deal with living in a messy, dirty and chaotic house, it is necessary to play the role of the housewife. Even if you are single, you organize your home in some way. Is it possible for you to go to work with stained jackets and trousers that have not been ironed? What about making food? Lets say you have an assistant and he/she does all your duties. Would you let him sew your missing button back on? Of course (unless you have a special interest) you can't make baklava or knit lacework table-cloths like your mother and you might not have time for such things anyway. But we must not forget that the housewife profile and that of business woman are not "clashing" profiles. Women who are meticulous about their careers show the same attention towards their homes. In fact many women take food preparation or sewing courses as a hobby. They do not view their weekend chores as an extra tiresome activity but, to the contrary, as a relaxing activity. Hence the housewife profile is seen by modern woman not as a contemptible profile but as one that deserves appreciation.

The Caring Mother: Many women at some point in their lives listen to their hormones. They live the happiness of getting married and being a mother, creating a family and bringing up a child. Amongst the roles of a woman there is no discussion that the hardest but also some of the most joyful moments are those during motherhood. Endless self-sacrifice, patience and strength is required but nevertheless they give a woman untold emotions making this profile indescribable. Witnessing their child grow step by step, giving them advice on their path in life, being a friend and being proud from their success is very important for many women. Therefore despite all the difficulties and annoyances the easiest role to enjoy the most is without a doubt the caring mother role.

Young Girl: And here is the most sweetest and joyful role among women. Every woman from time to time feels like young girl who is full of life, spoilt, and cheerful. When she feels like this she brings life to every environment she enters. Shopping, cafes, colourful clothes, shoe manifestations, close friends, gossip, pyjama parties and occasional nights of drinking yourself silly. An adoration of Brad Pitt and a weakness for chocolate. No matter what age we are sometimes we all move according to the naivety and the courage of a young girl aged 18. We all fall victim to our small caprices and attachments, we place aside our reason and move with our emotions. In fact sometimes we exaggerate and act like a child in our emotional relationships. The source of these actions of our role as young girl are established in our adolescence and become something that we cannot and do not want to be freed of. Even though we are good at acting like a mature and wise woman, we know deep down that we can only have fun in life through the role of the young girl.

The combination of striking parade monumentalism, patriotic art decoration and traditional motifs has become one of the most vivid examples of the Soviet contribution to architecture. The ensemble that a Stalinist building will contain can be very broad, not only in the overall motif, but also in the technology that lies underneath the rich decorations.

In the Soviet policy of rationalisation of the country, all cities were built to a general development plan. Each was split into districts, with allotments drawn based on the city's geography. Projects would be drawn up for whole districts, visibly transforming a city's architectural image. It relied on labor-intensive and time-consuming masonry, and could not be scaled up to the needs of mass construction. When the time finally came to tackle the housing crisis, this inefficiency spelled the end of Stalinist architecture and a turn to mass construction while Stalin was still alive and active.


Moscow Master Plan (1935)

Moscow architecture undoubtedly occupies a central place in domestic construction of the socialist epoch. Among the far-reaching projections, the 1935 General plan for the reconstruction of Moscow overshadowed all others. According to this plan, Moscow was to become the showpiece capital of the world's first socialist state. The General plan envisaged the development of the city as a unified system of highways, squares and embankments with unique buildings, embodying the ideas and achievements of socialism. This plan contained a number of major flaws, especially in connection with the preservation of the historical heritage of the city.


People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry (1934)

A competition for the design of a building to house the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry (Narkomtyazhprom) on Red Square was announced in 1934. The construction of this grandiose complex of 110,000 m3 on an area of 4 hectares would have resulted in a radical reconstruction of Red Square and adjacent streets. Twelve entries were submitted for the first stage of the competition. The impressive plans drawn up by the brothers A. and V. Vesnin - leaders of the constructivist (futuristic) movement - were not noted by the jury, along with a number of other entries.


Palace of Soviets (1934)

The Palace of Soviets was planned to be a supertall skyscraper. If built, it would have become the world's tallest structure. Its height was to reach 415 metres — higher than the tallest buildings of the time, the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building, The building was to be topped by a 100 metre statue of Lenin. The idea of constructing a building which could be a symbol of the "imminent triumph of communism" in the capital of the world's first state of workers and peasants was mooted in the 1920s. The chosen location was the site of the demolished Church of Christ the Saviour. The competition was launched in 1931 and carried out in stages. Overall, 160 entries were submitted, including 12 commissioned ones and 112 project proposals.


Hotel of the Moscow City Soviet (1931)

A closed competition for a 1000-room hotel was held in 1931, conforming to the highest criteria of the time. Of the six plans submitted, the best was judged to be the work of young architects L.Savelyev and 0.Stapran. Architectural publications carefully monitored all the stages of design from the point of view of urban planning. This building had immense significance since it was located at the intersection of the city's main thoroughfare, Gorky Street, with the projected new "Ilyich Avenue", an enormous street which would lead to the Palace of Soviets.


Palace of Technology (1933)

The project called for a complex of scientific and technical institutions, it was to be in the the capital city of a country which was being actively industrialised by a central administration called upon to "arm the masses with the achievements of Soviet industrial technology, agriculture, transport and communications." A site on the banks of the Moskva river was selected as the location for this Palace. The industrial resolution selected by A. Samoylov and B. Yefimovich was not a tribute to a constructivisim which was receding into the past, but rather an illustration of the "technocratic" character of the subject.


People's Defence Commissariat (1933)

Architect L.Rudnev's buildings are among the most noticeable in Moscow. For buildings of this profile the architect developed a specific style, conveying an impression of grim impregnability and crushing might to correspond to the official image of the Red Army. The project of a building on Arbat Square, which was only partly realised, reflects the architect's transition from the oppressive grandeur of the People's Defence Commissariat constructions of the 1930s to the buoyant pomposity which became a hallmark of the architecture of the 1940s and early 1950s.


The Aeroflot Building (1934)

In 1934 the crewmen of the ice-breaker Chelyuskin were adrift on an ice-floe after the ship went down in the Sea of Chukotsk. In the summer of the same year Moscow greeted the courageous survivors and the pilots who had rescued them, and who were the first to be granted the "Hero of the Soviet Union" award. The traditions of socialist life demanded the perpetuation of the memory of this outstanding feat in monumental form. The "Aeroflot" building was planned by architect D. Chechulin to the glory of Soviet aviation. Hence the sharp-silhouette, "aerodynamic" form of the tall building and the sculpted figures of the heroic airmen crowning seven openwork arches, perpendicular to the main facade and comprising a distinctive portal.


The House of Books (1934)

The plan of the House of Books is typical of early 1930s perceptions of a building. A trapezoid tall silhouette, simplified architectural forms and an abundance of sculptures on all parts of the building. Architect I.Golosov found interesting solutions in the spirit of the Soviet classicism. His work is distinguished by features which are designated "symbolic romanticism". He said that "the architect must not be bound by style in the old, historical sense of that word, he himself must be a creator of style... One must establish only absolute tenets, those which are inevitable, true and unchanging. There are many such, and these tenets, as vehicles of absolute values, are equally applicable to classical and contemporary architecture"


The Arch of Heroes (1942)

At the height of the Second World War, the newspaper "Literatura i Iskusstvo" (Literature and Art) wrote: "The competition for a monument to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War is drawing to a close. Some 90 projects have been submitted by Moscow sculptors and architects. Overall, more than 140 entries are expected". The demands of the competition included, inter alia, a monument "to the heroic defenders of Moscow." The choice of a putative location for the monument was left to the competitors. The designer of the Arch of Heroes, architect L. Pavlov, suggested erecting the monument on Red Square. The monument was, of course, never erected.



Legacy and Revival

In 1947, the Soviet government adopted a resolution concerning the construction of high-rise buildings in Moscow. By the early 1950s, tall buildings had been erected (see below). Albeit smaller than the projects above, nevertheless very impressive. Note the striking similarities between the style of architecture, especially the resemblance of current White House in Moscow to the Aeroflot Building project above.

Only the construction of a 32-floor administrative building in Zaryadye, which was envisaged as one of the salient features of the silhouette of the central city skyline, was not completed. Work on it was stopped after the 1955 resolution of the Central Committee, which condemned "excesses and over-ornamentation in architecture" and signalled a new era in Soviet architecture. The work which had been done was dismantled, and the hotel Rossiya was built on the foundations in 1967.

Zaryadye Skyscraper