Kozenji Temple Main Hall

Kozenji Temple Main Hall

The Kozenji Temple Main Hall (興禅寺本堂) is a building of 1898 at Kozenji in Haguro, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 3, 2006, under registration number 23-0223. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 332 square metres.

Why It Was Registered

The Kozenji Temple Main Hall was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. According to the Agency, it faces south with a six-room plan, aisles on the south, east and west, verandas all round and a rear hall projecting at the back.

A hipped roof on projecting brackets with double rafters is ringed by a lower double-rafter pent roof on boat-shaped brackets. The Agency notes that this double roof, unusual for a hojo-style main hall, gives it an imposing presence that anchors the local landscape.

What to Look For

Look at the roof, which appears doubled: a lower pent roof running all round sits beneath the main hipped roof, an unusually imposing form for a hojo-style hall (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

From the front, note the aisles and verandas wrapping the south, east and west sides. Passing through the gate, the main hall stands directly ahead.

Visiting

The temple's history and access are on the Kozenji Temple (Haguro, Inuyama) page. No official information was found on access to the interiors.