Yoganji Temple Bell Tower

A Zen-style belfry on a tall stone base

Yoganji Temple Bell Tower (陽願寺鐘楼, Yōganji Shōrō) is the hip-and-gable bell tower on the south side of the approach just inside the gate of Yoganji in Honmachi, Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture; built in 1890, it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 August 2020. It is a timber structure with a tiled roof covering 13 square metres, standing beside the gate in the middle of the precinct's east side, on your left as you begin up the approach.

The first thing you notice is the height of the base. The temple's survey measures the curved-profile cut-stone plinth at 2.1 metres, taller than a person, and on top of it four round columns carry the belfry. Ten stone steps climb to it from the south.

The date is carved into the base. At the center of the face toward the main hall is an inscription giving the date Meiji 23, seventh month, 26th day, followed by a name, evidently cut when the stones were laid. Because the belfry also appears on a precinct plan in the Jakuetsu Hokan published in 1899, the temple's survey dates the building to between 1890 and about 1897. The national database gives 1890.

Why it was registered: elaborate work in the Zen style

The Yoganji Bell Tower was registered under the criterion of serving as a model of design. The Agency's description notes the round columns standing on stone bases, the lion-carved ends of the beam-shaped tie at door height, carving on the head tie and top plate, bracket sets placed between as well as on the columns, and double-layered eaves with fan-pattern rafters. It calls the result an elaborate design based on the Zen style.

Column bases, closely set brackets and fan rafters are all signature features of the Zen style. Seeing them on a bell tower of a Jodo Shinshu temple says less about sectarian style than about the ornamental fashion that temple carpenters favored from the late Edo period into Meiji. The temple's survey makes the same point, noting that the scrolls and leaf carving on the rainbow beam are thick and busy in a way typical of that time.

The survey also argues that the tall base answered the position in front of a large main hall befitting a temple of special standing, and values the building, with its sharply upswept Zen-style form and fine carving, as a good example of an early Meiji belfry.

What to look for: lions and dragons, and the lift of the eaves

Stand at the foot of the base and look up: the carving gathers at the tops of the columns. Round-carved lions project from both ends of the rainbow beam, and above them the bracket ends are carved as dragons. Lions below and dragons above guard all four corners in two tiers.

The eaves are double-layered with rafters fanned out toward the corners, where they sweep sharply upward. The temple's survey singles out the strong curve of the eaves boards as what gives the exterior its character. The hip-and-gable pantile roof runs parallel to the main hall, with gables facing north and south, and lion-mouth end tiles finish the ridges.

Each side measures 11 shaku 6 sun between columns, about 3.5 metres. Because it stands open on just four posts, you can see the brackets and carving from every side. Viewed from the main hall against the light, the upturned eaves stand out in sharp outline.

Visiting the Yoganji Bell Tower

The Yoganji Bell Tower stands in the open grounds, and you can see it freely when you visit the temple; no paid admission is needed.

The temple gives no guidance on climbing the base or ringing the bell, so view it from below. For the carving, morning light from the east reaches up to the column tops best. Look too for the 1890 inscription at the center of the base on the main-hall side.