Kakurinji Temple

Kakurinji Temple: the "Horyuji of Harima" in Kakogawa

Kakurinji Temple (鶴林寺, Kakurin-ji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, whose grounds hold six designated buildings: two National Treasures, including the Taishi-dō hall traditionally dated to 1112, and four Important Cultural Properties. Its mountain name is Totasan, and locals know it as the "Taishi-san of Tota," after Prince Shōtoku. The temple itself repeats the old nickname "the Horyuji of Harima," a nod to the great Nara temple founded by the same prince.

The address is 424 Kitazaike, Kakogawa-cho. Kakurinji occupies a block in the middle of the city, bounded by the old Onoe Kaido road and a newer avenue, and it is close enough to JR Kakogawa Station to reach on foot in about fifteen minutes. That is part of its appeal: a set of Heian and Muromachi buildings survives inside an ordinary residential district.

How Kakurinji Temple began, and what the records can and cannot tell us

The temple's founding story comes from the Kakurinji Engi, a chronicle the temple dates to the Edo period. It tells of Eben (恵便), a monk from the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo who hid in Harima to escape the anti-Buddhist Mononobe clan. Prince Shōtoku is said to have come here to study under Eben and later had Hata no Kawakatsu build a small hall, three bays square, named Totasan Shitennoji Shoryoin. The chronicle places this in 589. In 718, according to the same tradition, an official named Mutobe Harunori expanded it into a full temple complex.

Kakurinji is candid about the limits of that story. Its own history page notes that no early roof tiles or foundation stones have been found, and that the Hōsōki, a medieval record of Harima's temples, does not mention it at all.

Tradition credits the monk Ennin (Jikaku Daishi) with repairing the halls on his way to Tang China, after which the temple joined the Tendai school. In 1112 Emperor Toba granted a plaque bearing the name Kakurinji. "Kakurin," crane forest, refers to the sal trees said to have turned white as cranes' wings when the Buddha died. The temple's chronology describes a golden age in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, with more than thirty subtemples. Its estates shrank sharply from the age of Oda Nobunaga onward, but the buildings escaped the wars. Three subtemples, Hoshoin, Joshinin and Shinkoin, remain today.

The six designated buildings at Kakurinji Temple

Dates and designation years below follow the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.

• Main Hall (Hondō): 1397. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1901 and a National Treasure in 1952. It is a leading example of Setchūyō, the eclectic style that mixes Wayō with details from Zenshūyō and Daibutsuyō.
• Taishi-dō (Prince Shōtoku Hall): 1112. Designated in 1901 and made a National Treasure in 1952. A pyramid-roofed hōgyō-zukuri hall with a cypress-bark roof, it is the oldest building on the grounds.
• Jogyo Hall (Jōgyō-dō): late Heian period. Important Cultural Property since 1907.
• Gyoja Hall (Gyōja-dō): 1406. Important Cultural Property since 1930.
• Bell Tower (Shōrō): 1407. Important Cultural Property since 1907.
• Goma Hall (Goma-dō): 1563. Important Cultural Property since 1907.

Read as a timeline, the list shows a burst of building: the Main Hall in 1397, the Gyoja Hall in 1406 and the Bell Tower in 1407, three structures within about ten years. The grounds also contain a Niōmon gate and a three-storied pagoda designated by Hyogo Prefecture, and a treasure house holds the temple's statues and paintings. Those movable works are outside the scope of this page.

Walking the grounds of Kakurinji Temple

Pass through the Niōmon and the Main Hall stands straight ahead, with a bodhi tree and a sal tree planted in the forecourt. The sal tree is the one tied to the temple's name. The Taishi-dō lies east of the Main Hall and the Jogyo Hall to the west, so the two Heian buildings flank the larger Muromachi hall.

The Bell Tower and the Goma Hall continue to the east, while the Gyoja Hall stands toward the southwest corner. A route that avoids doubling back: Main Hall, Taishi-dō, Bell Tower, Goma Hall, then back west to the Jogyo Hall and the Gyoja Hall. If you plan to visit the treasure house, leave it for last, when the buildings you have just seen give the exhibits context.

The grounds are covered in gravel. Kakurinji keeps one wheelchair with wide rubber tires for visitors, the Niōmon and the treasure house have ramps, and there is an accessible toilet. What to look for at each building, and whether its interior can be seen, is covered on the individual building pages.

Visiting Kakurinji Temple: hours, fees and access

According to the temple's website, Kakurinji is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the gate closes at 5:00 p.m. Admission to the grounds is 500 yen for junior high school students and older; children of elementary school age and younger enter free, and junior high students pay 100 yen with a student ID. The treasure house is optional and costs a further 500 yen, or 800 yen as a combined ticket. Groups of 30 or more get 10 percent off, and visitors with a disability certificate, plus one companion, enter free.

From JR Kakogawa Station, the city's Kako Bus takes about 8 minutes, and the temple says the Kakurinji stop is about a minute's walk from the gate. Walking from the station takes about 15 minutes, as does the walk from Onoe-no-Matsu Station on the Sanyo Electric Railway. By car, Kakurinji is about 10 minutes from the Kakogawa ramp of the Kakogawa Bypass and about 30 minutes from the Miki-Ono interchange of the Sanyo Expressway. Kakurinji Park parking, at the start of the approach to the Niōmon, holds about 30 cars and can take tour buses. The adjacent Kakurinji Park itself is run by Kakogawa City, and the temple has asked visitors not to confuse the two.

Volunteer guides can lead you around the grounds if you book by phone; the temple suggests calling about a week ahead. Every January 8 the temple holds its New Year service, Shushō-e, which includes Oni-oi: red and blue demons charge through the crowd, then repent and drive away bad luck.