Nanzenbo (Tomo)

About Nanzenbo

Nanzenbo (南禅坊) is a Jodo Shinshu temple among the temples on the west side of Tomo at Ushiroji, Tomocho, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, whose late-Edo main hall and a mid-Edo four-legged gate topped by a bell chamber were registered as two Registered Tangible Cultural Property structures on December 19, 2014. They are owned by Nanzenbo (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Fukuyama City's list of cultural properties shows that the temple also holds two city-designated paintings on silk, portraits of Shinran and of Prince Shotoku.

Two Structures

The main hall faces east, 16 by 17 metres, under a hip-and-gable roof of traditional tiles with a one-bay entrance canopy. Its inner sanctuary, side chambers and outer worship space, with an open front veranda and lower verandas on three sides, form the typical Shin Buddhist plan, with well-developed period ornament at key points (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The temple gate opens on the east of the precinct. A one-bay square upper storey with a tiled hip-and-gable roof was added above a four-legged gate to hold a bell, and the gate was renovated in 1810. Red-ochre timbers, cusped and round windows and sharply upturned eaves give it an exotic air (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Temples of Tomo-no-ura

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the gate colours the scenery of Tomo-no-ura, a port of call for the Korean embassies of the Edo period. The main hall, too, stands among the temples of western Tomo that shape the townscape of this port (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting and Location

The address is 1339 Kusatani-ko, Ushiroji, Tomocho, Fukuyama City. The gate can be seen as the precinct entrance; check with the temple before visiting the main hall.