Nyoiji Temple Amida Hall

An Early Kamakura Amida Hall

The Nyoiji Temple Amida Hall (如意寺阿弥陀堂) is a three-bay-square Amida hall at Nyoiji that preserves the layout of a hall for continuous meditation of the early Kamakura period (1185–1274) in Hasetanicho, Nishi Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on July 19, 1952 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey hall three bays square with a hip-and-gable roof of copper shaped like thick shingles; designation number 01175.

Nyoiji

Nyoiji is a temple in Hasetanicho, Nishi Ward, Kobe. According to a document published on the Kobe City website, it is said to have been revived by Ganzai in the 990s and was probably founded in the late 10th century. Its precinct has three designated buildings: the Amida hall, the three-storey pagoda and the Monju hall (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency record has no commentary; the date, the early Kamakura period, and its form, a hall three bays square with a hip-and-gable roof, set out what was designated.

A Hall for Continuous Meditation

The Amida hall of Nyoiji dates from the early Kamakura period (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a single-storey hall three bays square under a hip-and-gable roof, now covered in copper shaped like thick shingles.

According to a document on the Kobe City website, its plan preserves the arrangement of a jogyo zanmai hall, where monks walked around Amida while chanting, and it was called by that name in the Edo period. A burnt layer beneath it suggests an earlier building on the site.

What to Look For

At the Amida hall, look for the neat three-bay-square form and its copper hip-and-gable roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The hall is owned by Nyoiji Temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on visiting or access was found.