The Hexagonal Hall of Choko-ji
In the city of Inazawa, in a district so shaped by the building that it took its name from it, a six-sided hall stands at the centre of a temple courtyard. This is the Jizo-do of Choko-ji, and its plan is the reason it is famous: hexagonal halls are scarce in Japan, and one that reaches back to the medieval period is rarer still. The roof, laid in thick wooden shingling now sheathed in copper, rises to a finial above a cast-iron base ring. That ring carries an inscription dated 1510, and the carpentry agrees with the date.
Temple tradition pushes the founding back further, to 1161, when the provincial governor Taira no Yorimori is said to have given a six-sided hall in thanks for recovery from illness. Whatever stood then, the present building belongs to the late Muromachi period, and it was recognised as a national Important Cultural Property in 1906, among the earliest such designations in the country.
A Building in the Chinese Manner
The hall is built in what Japanese carpenters called the Tang or Zen style, a vocabulary imported from China and used most often in the meditation halls of Zen temples. Every pillar is round. The tie-beams that lock the tops of the columns end in carved projections shaped like elephant snouts, and the bracket clusters above are packed close in the dense, repeating rhythm of that style. The doors are panelled lattice at the front and hinged plank doors at the sides. Step back and look up at the eaves: the rafters fan out in two overlapping tiers, radiating like the ribs of an open umbrella, and wind chimes hang beneath the corners.
Not everything survives from 1510. The portions above the eaves were reworked in a repair around 1840, and the outer chamber was altered earlier in the Edo period, so the building as you see it layers several centuries of care. Even so, it remains, by the reckoning of the prefecture and the city, the one hexagonal hall of medieval date still standing.
The Iron Jizo Within, and How to See It
Inside, on an altar against the rear wall, stands an iron statue of the bodhisattva Jizo. It is a national Important Cultural Property in its own right, cast in the Kamakura period and dated by inscription to 1235, a little over five feet tall. Iron is far harder to cast than bronze, and figures of this scale and finish are uncommon; this one is admired as one of the finest iron sculptures anywhere in Japan. Local belief holds that the statue breaks into a sweat before disaster strikes, which has earned it the affectionate name of the Sweating Jizo.
The hall stands fenced, and on most days you view it from outside, with a partial glimpse of the interior through the front lattice. The doors are opened for closer worship on two mornings a year, the days of the Jizo observance in late February and late August. The temple itself, a Rinzai Zen establishment, also keeps a well whose water the young Oda Nobunaga is said to have favoured, a reminder that this quiet courtyard sat near the centre of sixteenth-century power.
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Q&A
- What is special about the shape of the hall?
- It is hexagonal, a plan that is uncommon in Japanese architecture. It is regarded as the only hexagonal hall of medieval date still standing, which is the core reason for its national designation.
- How old is the building?
- An inscription on the finial base records the year 1510, in the late Muromachi period, and the construction details match. Temple tradition claims an earlier hall from 1161, but the present structure dates from 1510.
- What is inside?
- An iron statue of the bodhisattva Jizo, itself a national Important Cultural Property, cast in 1235 and standing about 160 centimetres. It is nicknamed the Sweating Jizo for a local belief that it perspires before calamities.
- Can I go inside or see the statue closely?
- The hall is fenced and normally viewed from outside, with a partial view through the front lattice. The doors are opened for two mornings a year, the Jizo observance days in late February and late August.
- What architectural style is it?
- The Tang, or Zen, style: round pillars, densely packed brackets, elephant-snout carvings on the beam ends, and double tiers of fanned rafters with wind chimes at the corners.
Basic Information
| Name | Jizo Hall of Choko-ji (Choko-ji Jizo-do) |
|---|---|
| Location | Rokkakudo-higashi-machi, Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | National Important Cultural Property (designated 14 April 1906) |
| Date | Late Muromachi period, Eisho 7 (1510) |
| Structure | Hexagonal round hall, single storey, copper-clad shingled roof; 1 building |
| Owner | Choko-ji temple |
| Access | Viewed from outside the fence; interior doors opened on two observance mornings a year (late February and late August). |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/1261
- Inazawa City: Jizo Hall (hexagonal hall)
- https://www.city.inazawa.aichi.jp/0000002817.html
- Aichi Prefecture cultural property navigator
- https://www.pref.aichi.jp/kyoiku/bunka/bunkazainavi/yukei/kenzoubutu/kunisitei/0009.html
- Inazawa Tourism Association
- https://www.inazawa-kankou.jp/archives/407
Last verified: 2026.06.24