The Oldest Structure Still Standing Here
Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower (明石寺鐘楼堂) is a bell tower of one bay square, open on all four sides, standing on a raised platform at Meisekiji in Uwacho, Seiyo City, Ehime Prefecture, built in the closing years of the Edo period and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 October 2007.
Nine structures at Meisekiji carry that registration. Eight of them went up between 1880 and 1944. Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower is the exception, dated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to between 1830 and 1867, which puts it a generation ahead of everything around it. When the temple began replacing its halls in the Meiji years, this one was left where it was.
The two authorities place it slightly differently. The Agency for Cultural Affairs puts it southeast of the main hall; Seiyo City describes it as standing in front of the Daishi Hall. Both descriptions land you in the same corner of the upper terrace, where the main hall and the Daishi Hall sit side by side.
Four Columns and Nothing Else
The plan is one bay by one bay, roughly 9.2 square metres, and there are no walls. Four round columns carry the whole thing, and they are set uchi-korobi, leaning very slightly inwards at the top. The lean is small enough that you will not see it unless you sight up a column against the roof line, and it is there because a splayed base reads as stable and resists racking better than a perfectly vertical frame.
Those columns are tied by three tiers of horizontal penetrating ties at hip, middle and head height, with Nageshi rails above. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the bracketing as Mitsudo-gumi, the three-block set, with a further flat bracket set placed between the columns; Seiyo City reads the same brackets as a single-step projecting type at the column heads and between them. The descriptions differ in terminology rather than in substance, and either way the point is that a structure with no walls has been given a full bracketing system.
The eaves are carried on doubled rows of closely spaced Taruki rafters and project a long way beyond the columns. That overhang is what makes the building work: rain has to clear four open sides, and the bronze bell hanging in the middle has to stay out of the weather.
A Roof Doing All the Talking
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the design of Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower as restrained, and at the level of the frame that is accurate. The roof is another matter.
It is Irimoya-zukuri, hipped and gabled, tiled in Sangawara-buki pantiles. Shachi, the mythical fish-tailed creatures usually seen on castle keeps, sit at both ends of the main ridge, with Onigawara at the four hip ridges and further ornamental tiles along them. The gable ends carry Chidori-hafu dormers with Gegyo pendants hung beneath. On a building of nine square metres that is a great deal of roof furniture.
The result is a small object with the silhouette of a large one. Seiyo City's description reaches for the word weighty, and standing below it you can see why: the deep eaves and the upward sweep of the hipped-and-gabled roof give the tower a presence out of all proportion to its footprint. The curve of that roof is the single thing most worth looking at here.
One point of classification is worth knowing. The Agency for Cultural Affairs files Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower not as a building but under other constructed works, the same category it uses for the temple's purification pavilion and its stone walls. The distinction is administrative rather than architectural, and it reflects the absence of enclosed floor space.
Visiting
Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower stands in the open on the upper terrace and can be seen at any hour without an admission fee. Because it has no walls, the frame is legible from outside in a way that most temple buildings never are: the columns, the ties, the brackets and the underside of the eaves are all visible from a few paces away.
Photography is not restricted. To see the roof curve at its best, stand below the terrace and look up so that the eave line is set against the sky rather than against the trees behind.
From JR Unomachi Station on the Yosan Line the temple is about three kilometres, roughly eight minutes by car and about forty minutes on foot. Drivers leave the Matsuyama Expressway at the Seiyo Uwa interchange, about ten minutes away. The car park takes about 200 vehicles and is free for cars, with 1,000 yen for large and medium buses and 500 yen for microbuses. Enquiries go to 0894-62-0032. The bell is a working temple fitting rather than an exhibit, so follow any notice posted at the tower.
Meisekiji is the forty-third stop on the Shikoku pilgrimage circuit, and the precinct is part of the nationally designated Historic Site covering the Iyo pilgrimage routes.
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Q&A
- How old is Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the closing years of the Edo period, between 1830 and 1867. That makes it the oldest of the nine registered structures at Meisekiji, all the others dating from 1880 onwards. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 October 2007.
- Where is Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower in the precinct?
- On the upper terrace, on a raised platform. The Agency for Cultural Affairs places it southeast of the main hall and Seiyo City describes it as standing in front of the Daishi Hall; both point to the same corner.
- What should I look at on Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower?
- The roof. It carries shachi at the ends of the main ridge, demon tiles and ornamental tiles on the hip ridges, and dormer gables with pendant boards, all on a structure of about nine square metres. The sweep of the hipped-and-gabled roof and the depth of the eaves are the main things to see.
- Is Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower enclosed?
- No. It is open on all four sides, with four round columns set leaning slightly inwards and tied by three tiers of horizontal members. Because there are no walls, the whole structural system can be read from outside.
- Is there an admission fee for Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower?
- No. The precinct is open and free at any hour, and photography of the tower is not restricted. Parking is free for cars, with charges for buses.
Basic Information
| Name | Meisekiji Temple Bell Tower |
|---|---|
| Location | 205 Akashi, Uwacho, Seiyo City, Ehime Prefecture, and adjoining lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 2 October 2007 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Area 9.2 sq m; 1 bay by 1 bay; timber, tiled roof |
| Owner | Not recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Open structure on the temple precinct; visible at any time, no admission fee |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Meisekiji Shorodo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006322
- Seiyo City: Nationally Registered Meisekiji Shorodo
- https://www.city.seiyo.ehime.jp/miryoku/seiyoshibunkazai/bunkazai/kuni/kuni_yukei_kenzobutsu/4205.html
- Seiyo City: Meisekiji Keidai and Daihoji Michi Recommended as National Historic Sites
- https://www.city.seiyo.ehime.jp/miryoku/seiyoshibunkazai/bunkazai/kuni/kshiseki/6592.html
- Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage Association: Temple 43, Genkozan Enjuin Meisekiji
- https://88shikokuhenro.jp/43meisekiji/
Last verified: 2026.09.05