Mandaraji Temple Shoin

Where the Shogun's Inspectors Rested

The Mandaraji Temple Shoin (曼陀羅寺書院, Mandaraji shoin) is the reception building behind the main hall of Mandaraji in Maehibo-cho, Konan City, Aichi Prefecture, built between 1663 and 1674 and designated an Important Cultural Property on June 21, 1962. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as 12.4 metres by 11.4 metres, a single storey under a hipped copper-sheet roof.

Konan City notes that temple tradition dates it to 1592, which differs from the Agency's record.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The shoin was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1962. According to Konan City, it is in a Muromachi manner, with heavily chamfered posts, large, broad transoms, paper sliding doors and high ceilings. Aisles run on all four sides, and the interior is divided into the Hawk Room, the Crane Room, the most senior Jorannoma room and an anteroom; the Jorannoma has an alcove and a built-in desk.

The city explains that in the Edo period the shoin was always used to entertain the junkenshi, inspectors sent by each new shogun to survey the domains; they would leave Inuyama in the morning, rest and eat here, then travel via Ichinomiya to Hagiwara. During the Sekigahara campaign of 1600, Ikeda Terumasa and other Tokugawa commanders are said to have held a council of war here.

What to Look For

Notice the heavily chamfered posts and the broad transoms, the generous, old-fashioned Muromachi manner the city describes.

The built-in desk of the Jorannoma projects onto the veranda, with paper doors in front and a desk built in (Konan City). The building was dismantled and repaired in 1966.

Visiting

The temple's history, the wisteria festival and the park's location are on the Mandaraji Temple page. No official information on interior access was found.