Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall

What Is the Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall?

Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall (新長谷寺阿弥陀堂, Shinchōkoku-ji Amidadō) is a late Muromachi Buddhist hall in Hasederacho, Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 14 November 1953. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as three bays by three bays, single-storey, with an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof of Hiwadabuki cypress bark.

An amidado is a hall for Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of the Western Pure Land. Shinchokokuji also owns a Kamakura-period standing wooden Amida in a zushi cabinet, itself an Important Cultural Property, but published sources do not say where it is kept, so its link to this hall cannot be confirmed.

On the Agency's map the Shinchokokuji Amida Hall stands about 23 metres west-southwest of the main hall, in the middle of the western row, with the Daishi Hall to the north and the Shaka Hall to the south.

Why the Amida Hall Matters

The Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall was designated in 1953 along with five other buildings, as a small late-Muromachi hall of three Ken bays square.

What sets it apart is the roof. All three halls in the western row share the same footprint, but the Daishi and Shaka halls have Yosemune-zukuri hipped roofs, and only the Amida Hall has a hip-and-gable roof. Across the whole precinct, just two buildings use this form: the main hall and the Amida Hall. Placing the more formal roof type at the centre of the row reads as a deliberate choice, and it shows how the late Muromachi compound was composed as a whole rather than as identical units.

What to Look For at the Shinchokokuji Amida Hall

How a hip-and-gable roof is assembled

An irimoya roof stacks two shapes: a lower hipped section sloping to all four sides and an upper gabled section sloping to two. On the Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall, a triangular gable appears near the top at each end of the ridge, and below it the roof wraps around all four sides. The point where the bark roofing turns beneath the gable is where the roofer's skill shows most, so view it from several angles.

Compare it with the main hall

The main hall has the same roof type and material, but at five bays square it is noticeably larger. Looking at the two buildings from about 23 metres apart shows how scale changes the size of the gable and the spread of the eaves.

The rhythm of the row

Look along the western row at an angle, from the Daishi Hall end or the Shaka Hall end, and the roof shapes alternate: hipped, hip-and-gable, hipped. The Amida Hall's gable becomes the accent in the middle.

Visiting the Shinchokokuji Temple Amida Hall

The hall stands mid-row on the west side and can be seen from all around. No published information covers interior access, so call the temple (0575-22-3464) if you wish to ask.

Photography is banned inside the outer gate. If you want a record of the roof, a quick sketch of the gable and ridge direction makes later comparison with the other halls easy. Directions and general rules are on the Shinchokokuji Temple page.