[2] For the structure's design, Yoshimasa sought to emulate the golden Kinkaku-ji, which had been commissioned by his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Having retired to the villa, it is said Yoshimasa sat in the pavilion, contemplating the calm and beauty of the gardens as the Ōnin War worsened and Kyoto was burned to the ground.

In addition to the temple's famous building, the property features wooded grounds covered with a variety of mosses.

According to the book Landscape design: A Cultural and Architectural History by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, "In 1474, following his retirement from the shogunate, Yoshimasa (1436-1490), had some of the stones and pine trees of the Flowery Palace and Muromachi Hall, both of which had been devastated by civil warfare, removed to his villa retreat at the base of Higashiyama (the Eastern Hills).

The Zen culture is not entirely represented in this garden because it was financed by the shogunate as a retreat and the primary use was aesthetic enjoyment.

And since a lake extending northeastward reflected light that suffices even for reading, the room on the northeast corner has been planned as a library.

Therefore, the natural objects do not merely surround the building, twisting it out of shape but supply intrinsic motivation for the structural design."