Raigō-bashira

What raigō-bashira are

Raigō-bashira are a pair of columns set behind the Shumidan in the Naijin of a Buddhist hall. They mark off the space behind the image, leaving room for a passage or a rear door beyond.

The main hall of Shounji in Aichi Prefecture, built in 1934, is described as facing east at the rear of its precinct, 15.1 metres by 14.2, roofed Irimoya-zukuri with Sangawara-buki, with six rooms in the abbot's-quarters plan, a broad veranda across the front, and a sanctuary where the dais stands between these columns under a finely subdivided Gō-tenjō.

The alternative is a screen wall. The main hall of Tokujuji in the same prefecture, built in 1896, is described as setting the dais in front of such a wall, again under a subdivided coffered ceiling.

The two halls measure the same 15.1 by 14.2 metres and share the same plan type. Because the difference between them narrows to how the rear of the sanctuary is closed, reading the two entries side by side makes the distinction easy to grasp.

What you can see

Access to the sanctuary is usually restricted, so the view is from the outer area looking in. Two columns standing behind the dais with the space beyond visible between them indicate this arrangement; a solid surface closing the view indicates the screen wall instead.

Either way the ceiling above the dais is normally one of the more formal kinds. Both halls use a finely subdivided coffered ceiling, and the type of ceiling is recorded because it signals the standing of the sanctuary.

Where a record names these columns, the hall uses them. Quoting the wording of the entry is safer than deciding from a photograph, since the difference is easy to misread in poor light.