What tatchū means
A tatchū is a sub-temple built within or beside the precinct of a large temple, also called a shiin. The institution is said to have begun as the residence of disciples who tended the grave of an eminent monk of the main temple, and in time such residences became temples in their own right, belonging to the main temple but with their own halls, residential quarters and gardens.
Great Zen temples in Kyoto such as Daitokuji, Myoshinji, Tofukuji and Tenryuji often have more than twenty tatchū in their precincts. The term is not confined to Zen; small temples attached to Tendai or True Pure Land head temples are also called tatchū.
Reading the records
Records name the main temple, as a tatchū of Daitokuji or one of the tatchū of Tofukuji. The residential quarters of Obaiin, a tatchū of Daitokuji in Kyoto, are recorded as a typical Zen sub-temple kuri, valuable because its reception hall and kuri survive together and show how a sub-temple was laid out. The abbot's hall of Ryōgin-an, a tatchū of Tofukuji built in 1387, is regarded as the oldest surviving abbot's hall. The main hall of Jisaiin, a tatchū of Tenryuji, shows the features of a Zen sub-temple hall in its six-room layout. Jisseibō in Sakamoto, Otsu, is a tatchū of Saikyoji of the Tendai Shinsei school.
Buildings of a tatchū are usually designated or registered separately from those of the main temple, and articles should state clearly which sub-temple is meant rather than mixing it with the main temple.
References
- 黄梅院庫裏｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/1598
- 竜吟庵方丈｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/145498
- 慈済院本堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011151
- 實成坊門｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/178616
Last verified: 2026.09.26