What the Main Gate Is
Kosanji Temple Main Gate is a gate of 1940 standing at the northern edge of Kosanji Temple in Setoda, Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, and it was entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties in 2003. It sits on the central axis of the precinct and serves as the outer gate.
Four posts carry a pair of double doors in the centre and a single leaf on either side. The opening is 4.5 metres wide, and short walls run out to left and right under tiled roofs. The posts and the doors themselves are iron. White is the ground colour, with vermilion picked out here and there, and the leaves carry worked decoration.
The temple explains that the form follows the gate of the Shishinden at the Kyoto Imperial Palace, but that most of it was made in steel and then painted red. The tie beams and the door rails are finished so precisely that they pass for carpentry.
Why It Was Registered
Of the fifteen buildings at the temple, the Main Gate alone was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. It faces the street and works as the marker for the precinct within the town of Setoda, and that public role is the reason recorded. The other fourteen were registered for how they are built; the Main Gate was registered for what it does in the town.
The choice of material matters too. The founder made his career welding and manufacturing large-diameter steel pipe, and the Main Gate is among the earliest places where he brought that metalworking into the fabric of the temple. Holding the shape of a timber gate in iron, the temple notes, tells you something about what fabrication could do in 1940.
It was registered on 19 September 2003 and gazetted on 17 October that year, under registration number 34-0043, the lowest of the fifteen.
What to Look For
The relief on the doors repays the most attention. Dragons, waves and a pair of guardian lions are raised on the leaves, worked from drawings by a Kyoto painter according to the temple. The two sides answer each other, so it is worth stopping to compare them before you walk through.
Then look closely at where the posts meet the tie beams. The arrises and the chamfers copy joinery exactly, yet the material is iron. Touch tells you at once; the eye alone struggles. That small dissonance is much of the pleasure of the gate.
The colour scheme, vermilion on white, runs cooler than the heavy polychrome of the halls further in. Step through and turn around, and the white side walls with their red posts frame the ordinary street life outside, which reverses the impression the gate gives from the road.
Visiting the Main Gate
Kosanji Temple Main Gate is the entrance, so every visitor passes through it. It stands outside the ticket desk and can be seen from the street at any hour.
To take in the whole gate, cross to the far side of the road: the side walls come into frame and the halls stack up behind. For the relief, move in close instead and use light striking at an angle to read the depth of the carving. Around midday in clear weather the surfaces flatten out, so morning or late afternoon works better.
Photography for personal enjoyment is permitted, including posts on a personal blog or social media account. Commercial use without permission requires an application, and drones are banned on the grounds. Admission and opening hours cover the whole precinct and are set out on the Kosanji Temple page.
Q&A
- What is Kosanji Temple Main Gate made of?
- Iron, both the posts and the doors. The temple says most of it was made in steel and then painted vermilion; the flanking walls are tiled.
- What is carved on the doors of Kosanji Temple Main Gate?
- Dragons, waves and guardian lions in relief, worked from drawings by a Kyoto painter according to the temple.
- Why was Kosanji Temple Main Gate registered?
- It is the only one of the fifteen registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the nation, because it faces the street and marks the precinct within the town.
- How wide is Kosanji Temple Main Gate?
- The opening is 4.5 metres, carried on four posts, with short walls running out to either side.
- Can anyone see Kosanji Temple Main Gate?
- Yes. It stands at the entrance and is visible from the street at any time, though going beyond it requires admission.
Basic Information
| Name | Kosanji Temple Main Gate |
|---|---|
| Location | 553-2 Setoda, Setoda-cho, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 2003/9/19 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Iron structure, 4.5 metres wide, with flanking walls on both sides |
| Owner | Religious Corporation Kosanji Temple |
| Public Access | Passed through on entry; exterior always visible |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Kosanji Temple Main Gate (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003585
- Guide to the Halls and Pagodas (Kosanji Museum)
- https://www.kousanji.or.jp/map.html
- On Photography (Kosanji Museum)
- https://www.kousanji.or.jp/news/photograph-manners/
Last verified: 2026.09.14
