The Household Behind the Hall
The Shorinbo Priests' Quarters (照林坊庫裏, Shōrinbō Kuri) is an 1801 temple residence standing behind the main hall of Shorinbo in Miyoshi-machi, Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011.
A Kuri is the working household of a Japanese temple, kitchen and living quarters in one. At a Jodo Shinshu temple it is where the head priest's family lives and where the temple's business is run. The Shorinbo Priests' Quarters sits to the west of the main hall, behind it, and the two are joined by a long east-west corridor.
It went up in 1801 (Kyowa 1), fifty-one years before the present main hall of 1852. The building that houses the family, in other words, is older than the hall it serves. It is a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 315 square metres, second only to the main hall among Shorinbo's eight registered buildings.
Why It Was Registered
Along with the main hall and the guest hall, the Shorinbo Priests' Quarters was registered as a building that serves as a model of its type. They are the only three of the eight to be listed on that basis.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a fully developed kuri of the early modern period. At 22 metres by 14 metres it is large for a temple household, and the fact that Shorinbo could build on this scale at the turn of the nineteenth century says something about the temple's standing at the time.
One roof covering both an earth-floored work area and the living rooms, with separate entrances for separate uses, is the pattern of the larger Edo-period kuri. Here that pattern has come down intact for more than two hundred years, and that is what makes it useful as a model.
Inside the Plan
A gable-entry roof
The roof is a simple gable laid with standard interlocking pantiles (Sangawara-buki), and the building is entered on its gable end (Tsumairi). Lean-to roofs (Geya) are added on the north and east sides. The long ridge, 22 metres from end to end, gives the rear of the precinct a heavy, settled mass.
One earthen floor, two doors
Towards the front lies an earth-floored area (Doma). It has two doorways: a large main door on the east and a kitchen door on the west. The main door would have served visitors and parishioners, the kitchen door the daily work of cooking and washing, so a single floor sorts the household's comings and goings into front and back.
Three bands of rooms and a family altar
Beyond the earthen floor, the living section is divided into three bands running across the building, with tatami rooms lined up along the eastern band. At the far south end is the onaibutsu, the household altar a Shin Buddhist family uses for daily prayers. It is likely that the priest's family has said its morning and evening devotions here for generations.
Joined to the main hall
The Shorinbo Priests' Quarters does not stand alone. A corridor links it to the main hall, so the priest can pass from home to altar under cover. The plan puts the daily rhythm of temple life into built form.
Visiting
The Shorinbo Priests' Quarters is the private home of the priest's family and is not open to the public. As of October 2026 we found no announcement of tours or openings.
Because it sits behind the main hall, we could not confirm how much of the exterior can be seen from the grounds. If you do catch a glimpse, remember that this is a family's home. The national Database of Cultural Properties includes a photograph that shows the gable-entry front clearly.
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Q&A
- When was the Shorinbo Priests' Quarters built?
- It was built in 1801 (Kyowa 1), fifty-one years before the present main hall of 1852.
- What is the Shorinbo Priests' Quarters used for?
- It is the temple's kuri, the combined kitchen and residence where the head priest's family lives and the temple's affairs are handled. It is a single-storey timber building of 315 square metres, 22 metres by 14 metres.
- Why is the Shorinbo Priests' Quarters a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on 25 July 2011 as a building that serves as a model of its type. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a fully developed kuri of the early modern period.
- Can visitors go inside the Shorinbo Priests' Quarters?
- No. It is the private residence of the priest's family, and as of October 2026 no public openings had been announced. A photograph of the exterior is available in the national database.
- What is unusual about the layout of the Shorinbo Priests' Quarters?
- An earth-floored area at the front has a main door on the east and a kitchen door on the west. The living rooms are arranged in three bands, with tatami rooms along the east side and a household altar at the south end.
Basic Information
| Name | Shorinbo Priests' Quarters (照林坊庫裏) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1280 Miyoshi-machi, Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2011/7/25 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 315 square metres (22 metres by 14 metres) |
| Owner | Shorinbo (religious corporation) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence of the priest's family) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Shorinbo Priests' Quarters (Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008778
- Cultural Heritage Online: Shorinbo Priests' Quarters (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/239509
Last verified: 2026.10.07
