A Concrete Hall That Pretends to Be Wood
Senchakuji Hondo (選擇寺本堂, the Main Hall of Senchakuji Temple, also written Senchaku-ji) is a reinforced concrete Buddhist hall at 1-5-6 Chuo, Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture, completed in 1930 and entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 15 February 2000.
Walk up to it and the material is not obvious. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey building of 232 square metres, reinforced concrete, roofed in copper sheet. What the concrete has been made to do is imitate a timber hall of the most conventional kind: a three-bay Buddha hall with a kohai, the projecting canopy that shelters the worshipper standing at the front steps. The bracket complexes under the eaves, the rafters, the whole assembly around the eaves line, are reproduced in cast concrete with the joints and proportions a carpenter would have used.
That decision has a date behind it. The Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923 damaged the temple's hall, as it damaged a great deal of building stock across Chiba and Tokyo. Chiba Prefecture's account records that the present hall was put up in 1930 in reinforced concrete, following the form of a wooden building faithfully. The temple was choosing durability without choosing a new appearance.
The copper roof has aged into the green that copper reaches after several decades, which flattens the difference between this hall and its timber neighbours even further. Standing in the courtyard, the giveaway is the surface: too even, too continuous, without the grain and the seams that timber gives up on close inspection.
The Temple Behind the Hall
Senchakuji belongs to the Jodo school of Pure Land Buddhism. Its mountain name is Keizusan and its principal image is Amida Nyorai. Temple tradition places the founding in 1454 by Kan'yo Yuso, ninth abbot of Komyoji in Kamakura, and the Jodo school's own temple directory records that Yuso received imperial sanction from Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado for the juya hoe, the Ten Nights nembutsu service, and was the first Jodo priest to conduct it. The service is still held here.
The temple's name comes from a book. Honen, founder of the Jodo school, wrote the Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu, and the first two characters, meaning to select and choose, were taken as the temple name. Chiba Prefecture notes the derivation in its listing.
Registration in 2000 came under the criterion that a building serves as a model of its type, which is a different justification from the one applied to many registered buildings. What the assessors recognised was not rarity but exemplarity: a hall that shows clearly how temple architecture in the years after the earthquake tried to hold traditional form while switching to a material that would not burn or shake apart. Its registration number is 12-0035.
The principal image is worth a note for anyone planning a visit. According to the Jodo school directory, the standing Amida figure was found during a recent restoration to date from the late Heian period, and it is normally kept from view, shown only at the Ten Nights service held on 20 October each year.
Visiting, and What Else Is in the Grounds
The precinct is open and free to enter, in the ordinary way of a working neighbourhood temple. There is no admission charge and no ticket office; the hall is in daily religious use, so the interior is not on general view and anyone wishing to see inside should ask at the temple office. Photography of the exterior from the grounds is unrestricted in practice, but pointing a camera into the hall during a service is not appropriate, and it is worth asking before photographing inside at any time.
One grave in the cemetery draws visitors who have no particular interest in architecture. Yamaguchi Takizo, known as Komori no Yasu, was a real Kisarazu figure who became the model for the sidekick of the same name in the kabuki play Yowa Nasake Ukina no Yokogushi, the drama of Kirare Yosaburo. Kisarazu's tourism material treats the grave as a fixed point on any walk through the old town.
The temple also carries a good deal of local civic history. Its own records connect the site to the beginnings of modern childhood education in Kisarazu and to the origins of the local police station, and during the Boshin War of 1868 pro-Tokugawa forces used the temple as a headquarters. None of this is signposted in English, but it explains why a hall in a quiet block of central Kisarazu turns up so often in the city's own accounts of itself.
Access is straightforward. JR Kisarazu Station, served by the Uchibo and Kururi lines, is a five to ten minute walk depending on the exit, and there is parking for roughly 30 cars. Kisarazu is also linked to Tokyo by express buses running across the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, which makes the temple an easy addition to a day in the Boso region.
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Q&A
- Why is Senchakuji Hondo built of reinforced concrete rather than wood?
- The earlier hall was damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. When the temple rebuilt in 1930 it chose reinforced concrete for durability while keeping the form of a traditional three-bay wooden Buddha hall, reproducing the bracket complexes and eaves details in cast concrete.
- Can visitors enter Senchakuji, and is there an admission fee?
- The grounds are open and free to enter. The hall remains in active religious use, so the interior is not on general display; ask at the temple office if you hope to see inside. There is no ticket window and no set opening hours for the precinct.
- How do you reach Senchakuji Hondo from Kisarazu Station?
- It is a walk of roughly five to ten minutes from JR Kisarazu Station, served by the Uchibo and Kururi lines. The address is 1-5-6 Chuo, Kisarazu City. Parking for about 30 cars is available on site.
- Can visitors see the principal image at Senchakuji?
- Not usually. The Jodo school's temple directory records that the standing Amida Nyorai, identified during restoration as a late Heian period work, is normally kept from view and shown at the Ten Nights nembutsu service held on 20 October each year.
- What does the name Senchakuji mean?
- It comes from the Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu, the principal work of Honen, founder of the Jodo school. The characters carry the sense of selecting and choosing. Temple tradition dates the founding to 1454 under Kan'yo Yuso of Komyoji in Kamakura.
Basic Information
| Name | Senchakuji Hondo (Main Hall of Senchakuji Temple) / 選擇寺本堂 |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-5-6 Chuo, Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 12-0035 |
| Year Designated | Registered 15 February 2000; gazetted 2 March 2000 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Reinforced concrete, single storey, copper sheet roof; building area 232 m² |
| Owner | Senchakuji (religious corporation) |
| Public Access | Grounds open and free. Hall in active religious use; interior viewing by enquiry at the temple office. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Senchakuji Hondo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001491
- Cultural Heritage Online: Senchakuji Hondo
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/138761
- Chiba Prefectural Board of Education: Senchakuji Hondo
- https://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/bunkazai/q111-070.html
- Kisarazu City: Senchakuji Hondo
- https://www.city.kisarazu.lg.jp/soshiki/kyoiku/bunka/1/3039.html
Last verified: 2026.08.19