What Is Myokoji Temple Tamaya?
Myokoji Temple Tamaya (明光寺霊屋, Myōkō-ji Tamaya) is a reinforced-concrete memorial tablet hall built in 1926 northwest of the main hall of Myokoji Temple, a Sōtō Zen temple in Yoshizuka 3-chome, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, and was entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 14, 2021. The single-storey hall covers 122 square meters.
A tamaya is, broadly, a hall for honoring the spirits of the dead. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes this one as an ihaidō, a hall for the ihai, the lacquered wooden tablets that carry the posthumous names of the deceased and are kept for memorial services. It is not a mausoleum built over a grave.
Like the main hall, the Myōkōji tamaya was lost to fire and rebuilt in reinforced concrete so that it would resist fire. It was completed two years after the main hall and renovated around 1962. Its roof is hip-and-gable, in the Irimoya-zukuri manner, covered in pantiles.
Why the Tamaya Was Registered
The Myokoji Temple Tamaya was registered as a model of form. The Agency says that, together with the main hall, it conveys what early concrete construction looked like.
Where the main hall suggests a timber frame through painted plaster, the tamaya goes further and casts the shapes of columns, brackets and tie beams in concrete. The two buildings, finished two years apart, take slightly different approaches to the same question: how much of a wooden temple can be rendered in concrete.
Round Columns, Boat Brackets and Cusped Windows
Round columns line the outside of the Myōkōji tamaya. According to the Agency, each carries a Funahijiki, a short boat-shaped bracket that receives the beam at the top of a post, the plainest kind of bracket used on houses and small halls. A horizontal band, or Nageshi, fixed across the faces of the columns runs all the way round the building. On a timber hall these would be carved from wood; here their forms are cast.
Each gable end has three Katōmado, windows whose tops rise to a flame-like or petal-like point, a form common in Zen temple architecture. The nageshi runs straight across all three windows, so that the level band and the pointed window heads overlap on both gable walls.
A Concrete Room with Rainbow-Beam Ties
The interior of the Myokoji Temple Tamaya is a single room with a concrete floor at ground level, a Doma. The Agency notes that tie beams at lintel height (uchinori-nuki) and at the tops of the columns (kashira-nuki) cross the room in both directions, the lower ones shaped like Kōryō, the gently arched "rainbow beams" familiar from temple interiors.
In a wooden hall these ties would be cut from timber. At Myōkōji they are concrete, the lintel-height ties formed into the outline of rainbow beams, so that looking up from the floor you see the same grid of beams and ties you would find in a traditional Buddhist hall.
Visiting the Myokoji Temple Tamaya
The exterior of the Myokoji Temple Tamaya can be seen from the temple grounds. The Agency's photograph was taken from the south, and that is the best place to stand to see the round columns, the boat brackets and the cusped windows of the gable together. The tamaya is just northwest of the main hall, so walk round to the left after looking at the main hall.
This is a hall for memorial tablets, and no public opening of the interior is advertised. There is no published policy on photography. Out of respect for its purpose, avoid entering or photographing the interior, and consult the temple in advance if you have a particular reason to see inside.
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Q&A
- What is the Myokoji Temple Tamaya?
- A hall for memorial tablets standing northwest of the main hall. It was built in reinforced concrete in 1926 and has a hip-and-gable roof covered in pantiles.
- Is the Myokoji Temple Tamaya a mausoleum?
- No. Tamaya is a general word for a hall honoring the spirits of the dead, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes this one as an ihaidō, a hall for memorial tablets, not a building over a grave.
- Why is the Myokoji Temple Tamaya a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- Together with the main hall, it shows what early reinforced-concrete temple building looked like. It was registered as a model of form on October 14, 2021.
- What should I look at on the outside of the Myokoji Temple Tamaya?
- The round columns with boat-shaped brackets, the horizontal nageshi band running round the building, and the three cusped windows on each gable end, all cast in concrete in the shapes of timber parts.
- Can I go inside the Myokoji Temple Tamaya?
- No public opening is advertised. Since it houses memorial tablets, consult Myōkōji in advance if you wish to see inside.
Basic Information
| Name | Myokoji Temple Tamaya (Memorial Hall) |
|---|---|
| Location | 347-2 Yoshizuka 3-chome, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and other plots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered October 14, 2021 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 122 square meters |
| Owner | Myokoji Temple |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable from the temple grounds; no public interior opening announced |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Myokoji Tamaya (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014115
- Cultural Heritage Online: Myokoji Tamaya (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/553995
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Council for Cultural Affairs Recommendation, July 16, 2021 (Japanese PDF)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/93246101_01.pdf
- Fukuoka City Cultural Properties: Rekishi no Kaze Vol. 34, August 2021 (Japanese PDF)
- https://bunkazai.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/files/NewsBlocks/d4646735-8d4f-46ce-95d4-140cf916f3bc/value01/NewsParagraph832fileja.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.05
