Shinchokokuji Temple Daishi Hall

What Is the Shinchokokuji Temple Daishi Hall?

Shinchokokuji Temple Daishi Hall (新長谷寺大師堂, Shinchōkoku-ji Daishidō) 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 a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof of Hiwadabuki cypress bark.

Sources differ slightly on the reading: the Agency's database gives Daishido, while Gifu Prefecture's heritage page gives Taishido.

On the Agency's map the Shinchokokuji Daishi Hall stands about 17 metres due west of the main hall, closer to it than any other designated building. It is also the northern end of the western row of three halls.

The Daishi Hall and the Shingon Lineage

In a Shingon school temple, a daishido is generally a hall honouring Kūkai, the school's founder, known posthumously as Kōbō Daishi. Gifu Prefecture describes Gonin, who founded Shinchokokuji, as a fourth-generation spiritual descendant of Kōbō Daishi. Setting the founder's hall right beside the main hall makes that lineage visible in the plan of the grounds.

The Shinchokokuji Temple Daishi Hall was designated in 1953 together with five other buildings. It is small, three Ken bays square, but it is valuable as a late Muromachi cypress-bark hall that still stands right beside the main hall.

What to Look For at the Shinchokokuji Daishi Hall

Its closeness to the main hall

Walk round to the west side of the main hall and the Daishi Hall is right in front of you. At about 17 metres, it is the ideal spot to feel the difference in scale between a five-bay and a three-bay hall. Try to fit the side eaves of the main hall and the front of the Daishi Hall into one view and compare roof height and eave depth.

A hipped roof that mirrors the Shaka Hall

Like the Shaka Hall at the far end of the row, the Daishi Hall is three bays square with a hipped roof. Because the Amida Hall between them alone has an Irimoya-zukuri roof, the row reads almost symmetrically: hipped, hip-and-gable, hipped. Stand at the northern end of the row and look south to see this clearly.

Flanking the main hall

About 23 metres east of the main hall stands the Yakushi Hall. The two halls sit on roughly the same east-west line, framing the main hall from either side. From the front of the main hall, glance left and right and the backbone of the compound becomes clear.

Visiting the Shinchokokuji Temple Daishi Hall

The hall is a few steps west of the main hall, so you can see its exterior straight after paying your respects there. No published information covers interior access; call the temple (0575-22-3464) if you want to ask.

Photography is prohibited inside the outer gate. Directions and general rules are on the Shinchokokuji Temple page.