Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters

Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters at a Glance

The Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters (貞照寺庫裏, Teishōji Kuri) is the residential and administrative building of Teishoji Temple in Unuma Hoshakujicho, Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture, built in 1933 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on 3 August 2006.

A Kuri is where a temple's priests live and run the temple's business. This one is a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 218 square metres. It stands on the east side of the pond, about 50 metres northeast of the main hall, and the Teishoji Temple Shoin is joined to its north side.

Why the Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters Was Registered

The Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters was registered as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its fine timber and elaborate Ranma transoms, and calls it a good example of Japanese-style architecture of its day.

What earned the listing, in other words, is its quality as an early Showa residence rather than any ceremonial rank. The temple credits Ito Heizaemon XI with the design and construction of the whole compound, and the same hands that shaped the main hall and gate gave the living quarters equal care.

What to Look for at the Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters

A Curved-Gable Entrance

The building runs east to west under an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof covered in Sangawara-buki tiles. From the middle of the south side a porch with a curved karahafu gable pushes forward. That contrast between the long horizontal roof and the projecting curve defines the south elevation.

Reception Rooms West, Working Rooms East

The national register records an interior with a reception room behind the entrance, a 16-mat hall and an 8-mat room with a Tokonoma alcove to the west, and a wooden-floored room and an earth-floored Doma to the east. The entrance thus divides the house into rooms for receiving guests on one side and spaces for daily work on the other.

Fine Timber and Carved Transoms

The Agency singles out the quality of the materials and the transom carving. If you ever have the chance to see inside, look at the ranma set above the room partitions and at the grain of the posts and lintels.

Visiting the Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters

The Teishoji Temple Priests' Quarters is a working building, and the temple's guide to the grounds does not mention any interior opening, so a visit is essentially about the exterior. Walk to the east side of the pond, northeast of the main hall, to see the curved-gable entrance head-on from the south.

Because people live here, keep to the areas that are clearly open to visitors. Directions and temple hours are on the Teishoji Temple page.