Teishoji Temple Purification House

Teishoji Temple Purification House at a Glance

The Teishoji Temple Purification House (貞照寺浄水舎, Teishōji Jōsuisha) is a small open-sided pavilion built in 1933 just southeast of the gate of Teishoji Temple in Unuma Hoshakujicho, Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on 3 August 2006.

As the name suggests, it shelters the water visitors use to purify themselves before worship, the temple counterpart of the temizuya at a Shinto shrine. The Agency for Cultural Affairs lists it as a timber structure with a tiled roof and an area of just 5.0 square metres, the smallest of the seven registered buildings at Teishoji.

It stands about 20 metres southeast of the gate and went up in the same year as the gate and the main hall, as part of the temple the actress Kawakami Sadayakko founded.

Why the Teishoji Temple Purification House Was Registered

It was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency's description admits the building is modest in size but calls it indispensable to the composition of the grounds: set right beside the gate, it shapes the first view of the temple together with it.

Small does not mean simplified. The tilt of the posts, the way the beams lock them together and the decoration of the gable ends all follow the same carpentry as a full-scale temple building, so a close look at the Teishoji Temple Purification House tells you a good deal about the standard of work across the whole compound.

What to Look for at the Teishoji Temple Purification House

4 Inward-Leaning Posts

The pavilion has no walls and a plan wider than it is deep. Its square posts stand at the 4 corners and lean slightly inward toward the top, a technique called Uchikorobi. From the front you can see the posts drawing closer together as they rise, which gives the low structure a planted, steady look; the same device appears in torii gates.

Tie Beams and Boat-Shaped Brackets

A tie beam at head height binds the posts, and simple boat-shaped bracket blocks (funa-hijiki) on their tops carry the purlins, with no complex bracket sets at all. The roof is an east-west Kirizuma-zukuri gable in Sangawara-buki pantiles, with a single layer of rafters at the eaves.

Carved Gable Ends

Most of the ornament gathers in the gable ends. Each holds a Kaerumata frog-leg strut topped by a carved bracket arm (eyo-hijiki) that supports the ridge beam. Because the rest of the building is so plain, these two triangles of detail stand out clearly.

Visiting the Teishoji Temple Purification House

The Teishoji Temple Purification House sits near the entrance, southeast of the gate, and can be approached freely during temple hours. Being open-sided, its posts and beams are visible from every angle. Walk round to the east or west end to look straight up at the frog-leg strut and carved bracket in each gable.

Published sources do not say whether water is currently provided or how the pavilion is used today, and no photography rules are posted, so ask the temple if you need to know. Access and opening hours are covered on the Teishoji Temple page.