Busshoji Temple Main Hall

An Octagonal Hall of 1585 in Eastern Mito

The Busshoji Temple Main Hall (佛性寺本堂, Busshōji hondō) is an octagonal Buddhist hall built in 1585 at Busshoji, a Tendai temple in Kurisaki-cho, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on January 13, 1988. Locally it is often called the Hakkakudo, the Octagonal Hall, and an old rohan, the square base that once crowned its roof, is designated with it.

The temple's formal name is Yusekizan Dainichi-in. The Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education notes that the hall is the only octagonal hall of its kind in the prefecture. According to the head priest, the temple is said to have been founded by the monk Ennin (Jikaku Daishi) in the Tencho era (824 to 834), and in the Edo period it was counted among the Mito Ten Temples, the leading Tendai temples of the Mito domain (Irori-bata).

Why It Matters

The Busshoji Temple Main Hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1988. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the carved bracket ends (kibana), the short struts between the beams and the carving at the tops of the posts all differ slightly from one another and show local character. Ink inscriptions on the roof-space beams date the hall firmly to 1585, yet its style still breathes the Muromachi period, and it is valued as one of the few surviving octagonal halls in Japan.

Mito City points to elements of the Zenshūyō style brought from China, such as the daiwa plate on the post tops and the tapered post ends, alongside carved patterns on the tie beams typical of the Mito area in the Muromachi period. Inscriptions inside record repairs in 1631, 1663, 1816, 1876 and 1917 as well as the date of construction.

The head priest explains that the inscriptions name Tachihara Izu-no-kami (立原伊豆守政幹), a retainer of the Edo clan who then held Mito Castle, as the leading builder (Irori-bata). A late-medieval octagonal hall whose builder and year are both known is what makes the Busshoji Temple Main Hall stand out.

What to Look For

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 badly twisted the hall, and it was dismantled and repaired between 2011 and 2014. Mito City reports that the work revealed that the front had been turned to face east in 1693; the entrance was returned to the south, as originally built. The project was recorded in a repair report published in 2014.

The roof changed too. The national record still lists the pre-repair covering of copper sheet shaped like tiles, but the hall is now roofed in Kayabuki thatch. The head priest says that photographs from before the earthquake hardly look like the same building, and that because thatch lasts only about 20 years, a specialist inspects it once a year (Irori-bata).

Walk once around the octagon and compare the carved bracket ends and struts on each face. Coming in through the gate on the east side, notice that the doors do not face you: they are on the south face, the orientation the repair restored.

Visiting the Busshoji Temple Main Hall

The exterior of the Busshoji Temple Main Hall can be seen in the temple grounds. Inside are the principal image, a seated Dainichi Nyorai, and a set of Thirty Days Buddhas, both prefectural cultural properties; according to the head priest, for security the doors are opened for worship around the Obon period in August, when many parishioners visit (Irori-bata).

The temple is at 1984 Kurisaki-cho, Mito City (Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education). No official directions by train or bus were found, and there is no public guidance on photography, so ask at the temple.