Hoenji Temple Main Gate and Tsuiji Wall

The Gate and Walls at the Temple Entrance

The Hoenji Temple Main Gate and Tsuiji Wall (宝円寺山門及び築地塀) is the entrance gate of a Zen temple with walls to either side of about 1899 in Takaramachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on August 13, 2012 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It forms the entrance to Hoenji (宝円寺, Hōen-ji), the family temple of the Maeda lords of Kaga.

The Agency records the gate is timber with a tiled roof and is 2.8 metres wide, and the tsuiji walls are timber with tiled copings, 8.4 metres in total length; registration number 17-0244.

A Large Gate on a Stone-Based Wall

The Hoenji Temple Main Gate and Tsuiji Wall is the gate at the entrance to the precinct and the walls that run off to either side (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The gate is a large one-bay Yakuimon under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of pantiles. Three-bearing bracket sets on the beams carry the eave purlins, and above the lintel sits a Kaerumata strut carved as a dragon.

The tsujibei walls rise from finely fitted stone foundations, and both ends step forward toward the street (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The temple records that under the fifth lord Maeda Tsunanori, in 1669, a main gate was set up at the Umazaka approach as the front entrance, but every building was lost in the fire of 1868 (Hoenji preservation society). The present gate and walls date from about 1899.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency sees in the Hoenji Temple Main Gate and Tsuiji Wall the stern bearing suited to the boundary of a Zen precinct, and registered them for their contribution to the historic landscape. The Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education singles out their unusual ornament.

As the first thing a visitor faces, the gate and walls announce the standing of a temple that served the lords of Kaga.

What to Look For

Look up at the dragon-carved strut above the lintel, the unusual ornament the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education points to, framed by the bracket sets on the beams.

At the foot of the walls, study the fitted stonework. Because both ends step forward, a small forecourt forms in front of the gate. The temple notes that the Korinbo Jizo stands to the left of the gate.

Visiting

The Hoenji Temple Main Gate and Tsuiji Wall stand at the entrance and can be seen from in front of the gate; entry to the grounds is free (Kanazawa City Tourism Association). No official guidance on photography was found. Directions and visiting conditions are on the Hoenji Temple page.