Jakkoin Temple Main Hall

A Traditional Main Hall at the Maple Temple of Owari

The Jakkoin Temple Main Hall (寂光院本堂) is a full-scale main hall of restrained traditional form of 1879 in Tsugao, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 12, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber hall with a tiled roof and a building area of 145 square metres, with a connecting corridor; registration number 23-0196.

An Open Outer Sanctuary and a Zen-Style Altar

The main hall of Jakkoin is five bays square with a hipped roof of plain tiles, a one-bay porch at the front and a veranda all round (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The front two bays form an open outer sanctuary with a coffered ceiling, and the inner sanctuary behind has a Zen-style altar platform holding a shrine cabinet. The pillars are round and the brackets single-step.

According to the Aichi Prefecture tourism site, Jakkoin, formally Tsugaosan Hachiyorendaiji Jakkoin, is known as the maple temple of Owari, and by tradition began when the monk Dosho of Gangoji built a temple at the wish of Emperor Kotoku in 654.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes it as a full-scale main hall of restrained traditional form, and registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the coffered ceiling of the open outer sanctuary and the Zen-style altar in the inner sanctuary (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Jakkoin Temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the Aichi Prefecture tourism site, the temple is open every day free of charge (prayers are charged), about 20 minutes on foot or 5 minutes by taxi from the east exit of Inuyama-yuen Station on the Meitetsu Inuyama Line, and 1 minute from the Inuyama exit of the Owari Parkway from Komaki-higashi IC on the Chuo Expressway, with parking for 50 cars. The main hall, gate, Zuigudo and Bentendo are introduced together on the Jakkoin Temple page.