Satake Family Mausoleum

The Mausoleum of the Akita Lords, 1672

The Satake Family Mausoleum (佐竹家霊屋) is a mausoleum of 1672 in the precinct of Tentokuji Temple in Izumi-Mitakene, Akita City, Akita Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on March 19, 1990 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey mausoleum three bays square, hip-and-gable and entered at the gable end, with a one-bay porch under a cusped karahafu gable, and before it a front hall two bays by one, gabled on both sides with a karahafu front and an earth-floored canopy; the ridge tablet is included in the designation; designation number 02232.

At the Family Temple of the Satake

The Satake Family Mausoleum marks the burial place of the successive Satake lords of the Akita domain and stands west of the main hall of Tentokuji, the family temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Tentokuji's main hall, study hall and two gates were designated Important Cultural Properties in the same year, 1990.

The Akita tourism association describes the mausoleum as a building worthy of a daimyo family, its roof and walls coloured vermilion.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a lavish early modern mausoleum that, together with the Tentokuji buildings around it, preserves the appearance of a daimyo family temple.

What to Look For

The mausoleum is hip-and-gable, entered at the gable end, with a karahafu porch at the front and, before that, a front hall also faced with a karahafu (Agency for Cultural Affairs). That doubled karahafu front is the chief sight of the Satake Family Mausoleum.

Key points inside and out are carved, lacquered and painted in bright colours (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Look for the vermilion exterior and the carving that runs from the front hall inward.

Visiting

According to the Akita tourism association, Tentokuji usually opens to the public on August 16 and 17, when its treasures are aired, and visitors can then enter the study hall and the mausoleum enclosure. The public opening is currently suspended because of construction work.

From JR Akita Station take the Soegawa or Kanda-Tsuchizaki line bus for about 15 minutes to Tentokuji-mae, then walk 3 minutes; by car it is about 15 minutes from the station (Akita tourism association).