Jofukuji Temple Main Gate

About the Jofukuji Temple Main Gate

The Jofukuji Temple Main Gate (浄福寺山門, Jōfuku-ji Sanmon) is a Yakuimon-style gate built around 1872 at the front of Jofukuji in Kobo, Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2023.

The Jofukuji Temple Main Gate opens straight onto the old highway that runs through Kobo. It has a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles and is 2.8 m wide. As temple gates go it is small, but its posts and beams are heavy, and from the street it looks solid and compact.

A Castle Gate, or Castle Timber?

Local tradition holds that the Jofukuji Temple Main Gate was once the Tsuji Gate of Yanagawa Castle. According to Okawa City, it is said to have been moved here after the castle burned in 1872, which matches the Agency for Cultural Affairs' date of around 1872 for the gate.

Okawa City adds a note of caution. Because the present gate differs from the Tsuji Gate shown on old drawings, the city thinks it was not moved intact but built partly with reused timber from the castle. The gate is best seen with that gap between story and structure in mind, rather than as the castle gate itself.

Why Jofukuji's Main Gate Was Registered

The Jofukuji Temple Main Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency describes it as a gate opening onto a historic street in a town known for woodworking, and points to the thick, plain timbers that suggest the temple's standing.

Okawa City likewise values it as a simple gate with real weight to it. Seen from the street, this gate is the face of Jofukuji.

What to Look for at Jofukuji Main Gate

The main posts of the Jofukuji Temple Main Gate are rectangular in section, wider than they are deep. In a yakuimon, a beam called the obari runs from each main post back to a rear Hikaebashira post, and the roof sits on these beams. At Jofukuji a prop stands under the outer end of the obari on each side, and short wing walls fill in beside them.

The eaves are carried on Taruki rafters set at the medium spacing called han-shigedaruki, and the underside of the gate is ceiled. Step inside the gateway and look up to see both.

The leaves are plain boards trimmed with Happō kanamono strap fittings, and a small Kugurido wicket door sits in the west side bay. As the preservation society points out, there is almost no carving. Set this gate, with its ornament limited to metalwork, beside the main hall with its heavily carved porch, and the two could hardly look more different.

Visiting the Jofukuji Temple Main Gate

Because the Jofukuji Temple Main Gate faces the street, it can be seen at any time from the road. The board doors and fittings read best from across the street; the props, beams and wing walls are clearer from the side of the gate.

Stand under the roof to see the rafters and ceiling. Jofukuji is a working temple, so avoid lingering in the gateway during services. No official guidance on photography could be found (checked September 2026). Directions are on the Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) page.