#Heritage

The top two stories of Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji gleam with delicate pure gold leaf, standing in serene balance above the mirror-like waters of Kyoko-chi pond. Gnarled black pines and miniature rock islands dot the water’s edge, framing an iconic Zen Buddhist landscape that has enchanted travelers for centuries.

Cast in weathered verdigris bronze, the dynamic 14th-century samurai general Kusunoki Masashige charges forward on horseback across the outer gardens of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Feathered cirrus clouds sweep across an azure sky overhead, lending a heroic sense of motion to the warrior’s wind-whipped armor and drawn reins.