Hoenji Temple Priests' Quarters

The Priests' Quarters beside the Main Hall

The Hoenji Temple Priests' Quarters (宝円寺庫裏) is the large priests' quarters of a Soto Zen temple of about 1927 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 stands east of the main hall of Hoenji (宝円寺, Hōen-ji), the family temple of the Maeda lords of Kaga.

The Agency records a two-storey timber building roofed in tile, with a building area of 385 square metres; registration number 17-0243.

Daily Life Below, Guests Above

The Hoenji Temple Priests' Quarters is a two-storey building under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of pantiles, with its entrance on the side nearest the main hall (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A Kuri combines the priests' living quarters and kitchen: on the ground floor, guest rooms and a hōjō room face the garden to the north, while the southern half holds the kitchen and service rooms.

Upstairs, tatami rooms line both sides of a corridor, forming a spacious suite for receiving guests (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Soto Zen Ishikawa Prefecture Office notes that the upper floor seems to have been made in the Taisho era for the tea gatherings of the Sōtatsu memorial society, and tea gatherings are still held about five times a year.

The Agency dates the building to about 1927. The Hoenji preservation society, however, says that both the main hall and the priests' quarters were rebuilt in 1872 after the fire of 1868, so the sources differ on when it took its present form.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency values the Hoenji Temple Priests' Quarters as a large kuri that pairs a ground floor of traditional plan with a generous reception floor above, and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education describes it the same way.

The size of the upstairs rooms reflects a temple that, as the family temple of the domain lords, regularly received guests.

What to Look For

Note the gable end of the roof beside the main hall and the entrance placed on the side facing it. The two full storeys contrast with the mostly single-storey main hall next door.

Visiting

The Hoenji Temple Priests' Quarters is the temple's residence and reception building; no official information was found on how much of the interior is included in the paid visit. The exterior can be seen from the grounds. Directions and visiting conditions are on the Hoenji Temple page.