Myotsuji Temple

Myotsuji Temple

Myotsuji Temple (明通寺) in Monzen, Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, said to have been founded in 806 by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, has a main hall of 1258 and a three-storied pagoda of 1270, both designated National Treasures on November 14, 1953 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The hall was also designated under the former law in 1901 and the pagoda in 1917.

According to the Agency, the main hall was followed by the two-storey Niodo gate, raised in 1264 and dedicated two years later, and the pagoda, raised in 1270, which completed the temple.

The Two Buildings

The main hall, five bays by six under a hip-and-gable cypress-bark roof, shows clever planning, with a lowered floor around the outer sanctuary and rear pillars set back to widen the space before the images, and an unusual use of board struts. The pagoda is a neat work entirely in the Japanese style (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency notes that Wakasa had close ties with Kyoto from early times, and that these two are its masterpieces, free of provincial lapses of style and equal to works in the capital. Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

No official visiting information was found.