Shorinbo

A Shin Buddhist Temple Kept Whole

Shorinbo (照林坊, Shōrinbō) is a Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha temple in Miyoshi-machi, Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, where eight buildings, the oldest a gate of 1665 and the newest a guest hall and guest wing of 1934, were listed together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 25 July 2011.

Temple tradition says Shorinbo was founded in the Kamakura period, in what is now Fukuyama, by the priest Myoko, remembered as a disciple of Shinran and one of the six senior teachers of the Kanto. After several moves, the tenth head priest brought it to Miyoshi in 1602. It has stood in the old merchant quarter of Miyoshi-machi for a little over four centuries.

The eight listed buildings are the main hall, guest hall, Onari-no-ma guest wing, priests' quarters (kuri), connecting corridor, sutra storehouse, bell tower and main gate. Between them they cover everything a Shin Buddhist parish temple needs: a hall for worship, a home for the priest's family, rooms for receiving visitors, a fireproof store for scriptures, a bell, and a formal entrance.

According to the Miyoshi Tourism Promotion Organization, the layout of the Shorinbo grounds has not changed since the Edo period. Walk in through the gate, look up at the main hall and cross to the bell, and you are following much the same route as worshippers did two centuries ago.

Reading the Dates

Put in order by the dates in the national database, the Shorinbo precinct took roughly 270 years to reach its present form.

• Main gate: 1665 (Kanbun 5), repaired in the mid Showa period
• Bell tower: mid Edo period, 1744 (Enkyo 1), repaired in 1994 (Heisei 6)
• Sutra storehouse: mid Edo period, 1752 (Horeki 2), repaired in 1912 (Meiji 45)
• Priests' quarters: 1801 (Kyowa 1)
• Connecting corridor: late Edo period
• Main hall: 1852 (Kaei 5), repaired in the Meiji period and in 1958 (Showa 33)
• Guest hall: 1934 (Showa 9), repaired in 1986 (Showa 61)
• Onari-no-ma: 1934 (Showa 9)

The surprise is the main hall. It is one of the youngest Edo-period buildings on the site: the gate is 187 years older, and even the priests' quarters predate it by half a century. When the hall was rebuilt, the gate, bell tower and sutra storehouse simply stayed in service around it.

In 1934 the temple added both the guest hall and the Onari-no-ma in a single year. Building a formal audience room and a self-contained suite for distinguished guests at the same time suggests a temple that was receiving a good many visitors in the early Showa years.

How the Grounds Are Laid Out

Everything at Shorinbo is arranged around the main hall, which stands in the middle of the precinct facing east. Using the Agency for Cultural Affairs descriptions, here is where each building sits in relation to it.

East, in front of the main hall: the main gate

The main gate is a four-legged gate set squarely in front of the hall and serves as the entrance to the grounds. Step through and the porch of the main hall is straight ahead.

South-east: the bell tower

The bell tower rises from a dressed-stone platform south-east of the hall. It has no walls, so it is easy to pick out from almost anywhere in the precinct.

North-east: the sutra storehouse

The sutra storehouse is a small plastered store north-east of the hall, facing south. It and the bell tower face each other across the forecourt.

West, behind the main hall: the priests' quarters and corridor

The priests' quarters stand behind the hall, joined to it by a long east-west corridor. Movement between the family's home and the place of worship has always run along this passage.

South-west: the guest hall and Onari-no-ma

The guest hall lies south-west of the main hall, with the Onari-no-ma attached to its south-east by a short passage. The two Showa buildings are grouped on the western side, away from the Edo-period buildings that line the east.

Gate, bell and sutra store on the public eastern side; family quarters and guest rooms on the private western side. The main hall marks the line between the two.

What Was Listed

All eight Shorinbo buildings were entered in the national register on 25 July 2011, in the 70th round of registrations, under consecutive numbers 34-0116 to 34-0123.

Two different criteria were applied. The main hall, guest hall and priests' quarters were listed as buildings that serve as a model of their type; the Onari-no-ma, connecting corridor, sutra storehouse, bell tower and main gate were listed for their contribution to the historic landscape.

• Main hall (34-0116): timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 629 square metres
• Guest hall (34-0117): timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 196 square metres
• Onari-no-ma (34-0118): timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 117 square metres
• Priests' quarters (34-0119): timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 315 square metres
• Connecting corridor (34-0120): timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 60 square metres
• Sutra storehouse (34-0121): plastered storehouse construction, single storey, tiled roof, building area 20 square metres
• Bell tower (34-0122): timber, tiled roof, area 16 square metres
• Main gate (34-0123): timber, copper roof, frontage 3.3 metres

One tourism listing gives the registration year as 2013 (Heisei 25), but the records of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and Miyoshi City both give 2011.

Visiting Shorinbo

Shorinbo is a working parish temple, and visitors may enter the grounds and look at the buildings from outside. As of October 2026 we found no announcement of regular public openings for any of the eight interiors, and no published admission fee or opening hours. If you hope to see inside or to take photographs, contact the temple in advance (telephone 0824-62-2284).

The atmosphere changes during services. The Miyoshi Tourism Promotion Organization notes that the temple uses its main hall for events, including a concert held around the May celebration of Shinran's birth. Keep voices low and give way to anyone attending a service.

Shorinbo is in the old town of Miyoshi-machi, close to Tomoe Bridge, roughly 1.1 kilometres north-west of JR Miyoshi Station in a straight line. That figure is our estimate from the map positions of the station and the temple; we could not find an official access guide from the temple or the city, nor confirm whether parking is available.

About the Name

The name is read Shōrinbō, and its formal name adds the honorific mountain name 明鏡山 in front. In the national database each building is listed with the temple name in front, such as Shorinbo Main Hall (照林坊本堂) or Shorinbo Bell Tower (照林坊鐘撞堂, Kanetsukidō). Kuri (庫裏) is the usual term for the residence of a temple's priestly family, and Onari-no-ma means a room prepared for the visit of a high-ranking guest.