Shinryuji Temple

What Is Shinryuji Temple?

Shinryuji Temple (真龍寺, Shinryū-ji) is a temple of the Jodo Shinshu Honganji school at the southern foot of Mount Dodogamine in Nagara, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, where four buildings, led by a main hall built around 1881, were entered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 31, 2022.

Shinryuji Temple sits on the north bank of the Nagara River, with the ridge of Dodogamine, the highest peak in Gifu City, rising behind it. Three of the four descriptions written by the Agency for Cultural Affairs mention the mountain, and the sight of the halls set against it is part of what the registration recognizes.

The official spelling of the temple name uses the older character 龍, but bus stops and map services often write it 真竜寺 with the simplified form. The stop outside the temple is signed Shinryujimae (真竜寺前).

History of Shinryuji Temple

According to a chronology compiled by Gifu City, Shinryuji Temple is said to have been founded in 1499 by Monkei, a disciple of the Jodo Shinshu leader Rennyo. In the early Edo period it moved to its present site in Nagara, where it eventually settled.

In 1606 Asano Kyosai, head priest of Saigonji Temple, fell out with Okudaira Nobumasa, lord of the Kano domain, and was driven out. He took refuge at Shinryuji, which then stood in a detached enclave of the Owari domain, and was taken in as its head priest.

In 1634 the Kano lord Okudaira Tadataka interceded, Saigonji was allowed to be restored, and a brother of Shinryuji's head priest went to serve there. The tie between the two temples goes back to these early Edo events.

Layout of the Grounds

Read together, the site plan in Gifu City's explanatory leaflet and the coordinates in the Agency's database lay out the grounds of Shinryuji Temple neatly from south to north.

• The Main Gate opens at the south front of the grounds. It is a Yakuimon rebuilt in 1948, with a frontage of 2.8 meters.
• The Bell Tower stands beside the gate on its west side. It dates from 1898 and covers 6.4 square meters.
• The Main Hall stands behind the gate toward the north end of the grounds, facing south. With a building area of 263 square meters, it is the largest building here.
• The Entrance and Tea Room lies east of the Main Hall: a corridor linking the hall with the Kuri, the priests' quarters, with an entrance porch on its south side and a tea room on its north. It covers 31 square meters.

By the database coordinates, all four buildings sit within about 30 meters of one another. Walk through the gate and the Bell Tower is on your left, with the Main Hall straight ahead.

Four Registrations and a Line of Carpenters

The four buildings of Shinryuji Temple were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 31, 2022, in the 103rd round of registrations. Their numbers run in sequence: 21-0294 for the Main Hall, 21-0295 for the Entrance and Tea Room, 21-0296 for the Bell Tower and 21-0297 for the Main Gate.

They fall under two criteria. The Main Hall and the Entrance and Tea Room were registered as models of form, for the quality of their design. The Bell Tower and the Main Gate were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape, as the face of a temple set against Dodogamine.

Gifu City's research has named the builders of three of them. Kasahara Jisuke was master carpenter for the Main Hall around 1881, Kasahara Jishichi for the Bell Tower in 1898, and Murase Shogo for the Main Gate in 1948. The Agency notes that the Bell Tower's carpenter was a pupil of the Main Hall's, and the Main Gate's carpenter a pupil of the Bell Tower's. Over roughly 70 years, one local line of builders, handing the work from master to apprentice, raised the temple's principal structures.

The Entrance and Tea Room is dated to the later Taisho period on the strength of temple tradition and the building's weathering, and no builder's name has come down.

Visiting Shinryuji Temple

Shinryuji Temple is a working temple where memorial services are held for its members, and it publishes no visiting hours or admission fee. The exteriors of all four buildings can be seen from within the grounds; move quietly so as not to disturb services. If you hope to see inside the Main Hall or the tea room, contact the temple in advance.

By public transport, take a Gifu Bus bound for Shoraidanchi (松籟団地) from the bus terminal at JR Gifu Station and get off at Shinryujimae. The stop is only a few dozen meters from the gate. On Gifu Bus's fare map dated April 1, 2025, the stop falls inside the flat-fare city zone, at 230 yen for adults. Gifu Bus lists the route as N43, boarding from stand 13 at JR Gifu Station, but these details can change, so check before you ride.