What Ginryukaku Is
Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku is a building of 1943 in the southeast of the precinct at Kosanji Temple in Setoda, Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. It projects out over a garden pond and is the latest of the fifteen registered buildings.
It is single-storey timber work with a copper-sheet roof covering 40 square metres. A boarded room the size of eight tatami mats has a veranda on three sides, with an alcove and a small chamber on the east. The roof is pyramidal Hōgyō-zukuri in copper. A dragon is painted on the flat ceiling panel above the boarded room, and every structural timber is finished in silver. The paper screens are cut with Katōmado openings.
The temple describes it as a Shoin-zukuri building standing in a wooded garden of boulders behind Shingyoden. The pond is called Biwa no Ike. With an entrance and a service area attached, it can be used as a Chashitsu.
Why It Was Registered
Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku was registered under the criterion for work not easily reproduced. The Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary calls it a building of unusual design. Where the halls of the precinct each name an old model, no model is cited for this one.
The silver finish on the timbers is at the centre of that. The temple records that silver paint was used extensively inside and out, and that this, along with white, became the basis of the colour scheme for its postwar buildings. A building of 1943 is treated as the starting point for the palette that followed.
The cut openings in the paper screens are the other point. Katomado are normally an opening in a wall; carrying the shape into a screen itself is uncommon. It was registered on 19 September 2003 under number 34-0056.
What to Look For
Approach this building through its relation to water. It juts out over the pond, so the reflection makes half of what you see. On a still morning the outline doubles; when wind picks up, only the lower half breaks apart.
The pyramidal copper roof gathers four planes to a point. Against a footprint of only 40 square metres the roof carries a lot of weight, and from a distance it is the roof alone that seems to float among the trees.
The veranda runs on three sides. North, west and south are open; the east is closed by the alcove and the small chamber. The open sides face pond and woodland, the closed side turns its back. That decision about orientation pulls the whole building toward the water.
The painted dragon and the silver timbers are inside and cannot be seen directly. There are places, though, where silver catches the light beyond the screens, and the outline of the cut openings in those screens reads from outside.
Visiting Ginryukaku
The interior of Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku is closed and cannot be entered. Viewing is from the outside, across the garden.
Coming round behind Shingyoden brings the building into view between the trees. Walk to the far side of the pond to place water in the foreground. For the roof, look for a slightly raised position to see it from above. Trees stand close, so what is visible shifts with the season.
Photography for personal enjoyment is permitted, including on a personal blog or social media account. Commercial use without permission is not allowed, and drones are banned on the grounds. Opening hours and admission are set out on the Kosanji Temple page.
Q&A
- Can you go inside Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku?
- No. The interior is closed, so it is viewed from outside across the garden.
- Where does the name of Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku come from?
- From the dragon painted on the flat ceiling panel and the silver finish on all the structural timbers, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls an unusual design.
- What was Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku used for?
- It is a shoin-style building with an entrance and service area attached so that it can serve as a tea room, projecting out over a pond.
- How big is Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku?
- The main room is the size of eight tatami mats and the building covers 40 square metres, in timber under a pyramidal copper roof.
- When was Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku built?
- In 1943, making it the latest of the fifteen registered buildings here.
Basic Information
| Name | Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku |
|---|---|
| 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 | Single-storey timber structure, copper-sheet roof, building area 40 square metres |
| Owner | Religious Corporation Kosanji Temple |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable during opening hours; interior closed |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Kosanji Temple Ginryukaku (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003598
- 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
