Mantokuji Temple Chinju-do (Guardian Shrine)

A Dated Late-Muromachi Guardian Shrine

The Mantokuji Temple Chinju-do (Guardian Shrine) (万徳寺鎮守堂, Mantokuji chinjudo) is a shrine building of 1530 at Mantokuji in Nagano, Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was designated an Important Cultural Property on May 14, 1958. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a one-bay nagare-style shrine with a cypress-bark roof.

According to Inazawa City, it is a small shrine, 1.8 metres by 1.5 metres, dated to 1530 by its ridge tablet. The Agency notes that it stands north of the pagoda.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The shrine was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1958. The Agency says its bracket arms, beam ends and bracketing show the character of the late Muromachi period well. Dated by its ridge tablet, it serves as a benchmark for the details of small Muromachi shrines.

Inazawa City explains that it stands on an earthen platform walled with stone. The interior is divided front and back, the front half open, with three doorways into the rear half; the walls are boards dropped into grooves cut in the posts and finished in plaster.

What to Look For

Notice the three doorways on the front and the back wall divided into three to match them (Inazawa City). A veranda runs on three sides, with side screens at the rear and seven wooden steps and a low platform at the front.

The cypress-bark roof has double eaves and a box ridge. Look for the late-Muromachi character the Agency describes in the carved bracket arms and beam ends.

Visiting

The temple's overview and contact details are on the Mantokuji Temple (Inazawa) page. No official information on viewing conditions was found.