Which 14th-century shogun commissioned Kyoto’s famous Golden Pavilion?

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu commissioned Kyoto’s famous Golden Pavilion.

Yoshimitsu was the third shogun of the Ashikaga, or Muromachi, shogunate. After retiring from the shogunate, he developed Kitayama-dono, a villa complex in Kyoto. Its most famous building, the Kinkaku, became associated with its gold-leaf exterior and is now part of the temple Kinkaku-ji.

Yoshimitsu ruled from 1368 to 1394 and helped end the division between the Northern and Southern Imperial Courts in 1392. His era is associated with the Kitayama cultural sphere, which blended aristocratic court traditions with samurai and Zen influences.

The present pavilion is not Yoshimitsu’s original building. The historic structure was destroyed by fire in 1950 and rebuilt in 1955, while the temple complex continued to preserve the site’s connection with the Ashikaga shogun.