What Choseikaku Is
Kosanji Temple Choseikaku is a residence in the northeast corner of the precinct at Kosanji Temple in Setoda, Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. The name is read Choseikaku. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database dates it to 1929, while the temple says building began in 1927, a difference of a couple of years.
It is timber and reinforced concrete, single-storey with a two-storey section, roofed in tile, covering 389 square metres. A two-storey concrete Western wing with a porch stands beside a single-storey Japanese wing whose entrance carries a Noki-karahafu curved gable.
The founder built it for his mother's later years in their home town of Setoda, while he was still running a steel pipe company in Osaka. After her death, the halls of the temple went up around the house. The temple treats Choseikaku as the building from which the whole undertaking began.
Why It Was Registered
Kosanji Temple Choseikaku was registered as a model of design, and it is the only one of the fifteen registered under that criterion, which puts it on a different footing from the halls around it.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary says it conveys well the character of a large early Showa residence setting a Western wing alongside a Japanese one. The temple adds that while this arrangement was fashionable from the Meiji period into the early Showa years, only a handful survive in Hiroshima Prefecture, and that Choseikaku stands out among them for scale and refinement.
What draws attention is the ranking of the rooms. The temple points out that the room for his mother was built far more richly than the great reception room for guests, and that the Buddhist altar room was made much larger than usual and pushed out from the main body of the house as if standing alone. Formality in a house normally gathers in the rooms for visitors; here it does the opposite. It was registered on 19 September 2003 under number 34-0057.
What to Look For
The room built for the founder's mother was made to the highest standard in the house. According to the temple, the alcove post and the fittings are black persimmon, the alcove lintel is wenge, and the transom is a single board of Satsuma cedar carved with plum and birds. The ceiling is raised and coffered, with 124 panels painted with flowers and birds. A wooden figure of his mother stands beside the alcove.
The great reception room is a ten-mat space with an alcove, shelving and a built-in desk alcove, with a six-mat anteroom beside it. The alcove post is rosewood, the alcove sill ebony, the alcove floor a single board of zelkova, the ceiling boards Yakushima cedar. The list of materials alone tells you what was spent here.
The Western wing is close to square in plan, two storeys, with a carriage porch. Inside, brown dados meet white lime plaster and stained glass is set into the openings. The drawing room has its own glazed entrance on the west front, so guests could come straight in without passing through the main entrance.
The bathroom deserves a look too. Four and a half mats in marble and granite, with paulownia fitted inside the tub, and a round stained-glass window set into the wall between bathroom and corridor. Elements like these turning up within the Japanese wing say a good deal about what kind of house this is.
Visiting Choseikaku
The interior of Kosanji Temple Choseikaku is open, but its hours and charges differ from the rest of the precinct. It opens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a separate 500 yen is payable on site for visitors of elementary school age and above. Preschool children enter free.
Because that window is short, working up through the precinct from the bottom can leave you arriving after it has closed. If you want to be sure of seeing Choseikaku, go there first or plan to be back before 4 p.m. It stands in the northeast corner of the grounds, a short turn east after the Main Gate.
Steps at the entrance mean wheelchair access is not possible. Photography for personal enjoyment is permitted, including on a personal blog or social media account, and commercial use without permission requires an application. Charges and hours change, so check the official site before you travel.
Q&A
- How is the name of Kosanji Temple Choseikaku read?
- Choseikaku. The reading given in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database is Kosanji Choseikaku.
- Can you visit Kosanji Temple Choseikaku?
- Yes, the interior is open, but only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a separate 500 yen is payable on site for visitors of elementary school age and above.
- When was Kosanji Temple Choseikaku built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs database dates it to 1929, while the temple says construction began in 1927, a difference of a couple of years.
- Why was Kosanji Temple Choseikaku registered?
- It is the only one of the fifteen registered as a model of design, valued for how it shows a large early Showa house setting a Western wing beside a Japanese one.
- What should you look at in Kosanji Temple Choseikaku?
- The room built for the founder's mother, with 124 painted panels in its raised coffered ceiling, finished more richly than the reception room for guests.
Basic Information
| Name | Kosanji Temple Choseikaku |
|---|---|
| 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 | Timber and reinforced concrete, single-storey with a 2-storey section, tiled roof, building area 389 square metres |
| Owner | Religious Corporation Kosanji Temple |
| Public Access | Interior open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; separate 500 yen charge from elementary school age |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Kosanji Temple Choseikaku (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003599
- Guide to the Halls and Pagodas (Kosanji Museum)
- https://www.kousanji.or.jp/map.html
- Choseikaku (Kosanji Museum)
- https://www.kousanji.or.jp/chouseikaku.html
- Visitor Information (Kosanji Museum)
- https://www.kousanji.or.jp/info.html
Last verified: 2026.09.14
