Myojoji Temple Shoin

The Shoin of Myōjō-ji: A Hidden Lord's Chamber in Noto

Tucked into the wooded grounds of Myōjō-ji Temple on the Noto Peninsula, the Shoin (reception hall) is one of those rare places where the private life of a feudal lord still lingers in the air. Built in 1659 as a quiet retreat for the head of the powerful Maeda clan of Kaga Domain, this elegant single-story hall blends the intimacy of a warrior aristocrat's residence with the devotional purpose of a great Nichiren Buddhist temple. For travelers seeking something beyond Kyoto's well-trodden paths, this is one of Japan's most atmospheric places to step inside the quiet refinement of the Edo period.

A Temple of the Maeda Lords

Myōjō-ji, formally known as Kin'eizan Myōjō-ji, is the head temple of the Nichiren school in the Hokuriku region. It was founded in 1294 by Nichizō, a direct disciple of the monk Nichiren, after he converted a local priest on a sea voyage from Sado Island. For over seven centuries the temple has stood in the small village of Takiyamachi, set back from the Sea of Japan coast in what is now Hakui City, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Its grandeur today, however, owes everything to the Maeda family, the daimyō who ruled Kaga Domain from Kanazawa. In the early Edo period, Myōjō-ji became the memorial temple (bodaiji) of Jufukuin, the mother of the third lord Maeda Toshitsune. Over some seventy years, successive Maeda rulers endowed the compound with a remarkable set of wooden buildings, ten of which are now designated Important Cultural Properties. The Shoin stands as one of the later and most personal of these contributions.

Built for a Young Lord's Visit

According to temple tradition, the Shoin was built by Maeda Tsunanori, the fifth lord of Kaga, as a resting place for when he came to worship at the family's memorial temple. It was completed in 1659, during the Manji era, at a time when Kaga Domain was consolidating its cultural legacy as one of the wealthiest fiefs in Japan.

The hall measures roughly fifteen meters along its front and fourteen meters deep. Its single story is topped with a wide, gently sloping hipped roof of kokera-buki, thin shingles of hinoki cypress laid in overlapping layers. The effect is quiet and unassuming from the outside, giving little hint of the carefully arranged rooms within.

A Tripartite Plan of Rooms

At the innermost end of the hall lies a sanctum called the mitamaya, a spirit hall devoted to the Maeda family's ancestors. This eight-tatami, wood-floored room houses the memorial tablets of Jufukuin and of her granddaughter Kōmyōin, also known as Princess Kametsuru. Look up here and you will see a coffered ceiling painted with delicate, brightly colored flowers, a small burst of painterly decoration in an otherwise restrained interior.

To the right of the mitamaya is the karō no ma, the chamber set aside for senior retainers who accompanied the lord on his visits. To the left is the goza no ma, the private room where the lord himself could rest. This chamber features a tsukeshoin, a built-in writing alcove projecting toward the garden, lit by a katōmado, the distinctive bell-shaped window often seen in Zen and Nichiren architecture. Together, these three rooms show how a single building could serve both as a noble residence and as a place of prayer for the departed.

Why It Was Designated an Important Cultural Property

The Shoin was listed as a national Important Cultural Property in August 1917, alongside much of the Myōjō-ji compound. Several qualities set it apart. First is its rarity: intact early Edo-period shoin halls built by a major daimyō for temple visits are uncommon, and surviving examples in the Hokuriku region are rarer still. Second is its level of craftsmanship: the carpentry is attributed to the Sakagami family, hereditary master builders to the Maeda, whose work across Myōjō-ji's main hall, founder's hall, and five-story pagoda is praised for its vigor and refinement.

Finally there is the integration of the Shoin with its surroundings. The building was designed with its garden in mind, and its interior sightlines draw the eye toward the pond, the wooded hillside, and ultimately the soaring silhouette of the five-story pagoda beyond. This close relationship between architecture and landscape is exactly the kind of holistic design that Japanese cultural property specialists prize. In recent years, scholars involved in a multi-year survey of the compound have publicly argued that Myōjō-ji's building group has the qualities needed for possible elevation to National Treasure status.

Highlights for the Visitor

The Shoin Garden

No visit to the Shoin is complete without stepping out to view its garden, designated a Scenic Spot by Ishikawa Prefecture. Built against the natural slope of the hillside, it combines a pond-viewing style with a dry landscape (karesansui) arrangement featuring stones evoking a crane and a tortoise, classic Japanese symbols of longevity and good fortune. On the far side of the pond, a worship stone (raihaiseki) was uncovered during archaeological investigation, a place from which the lord or his family could face the five-story pagoda and Jufukuin's grave in prayer. It is at once a viewing garden and a sacred space.

The Five-Story Pagoda as Borrowed Scenery

Rising above the wooded ridge behind the garden is the thirty-four-meter five-story pagoda, the only surviving wooden pagoda of its kind in the Hokuriku region. From the Shoin's veranda, its tiered roofs appear framed among the trees in a masterful use of shakkei, or borrowed scenery. Photographers should plan for late morning light, when the pagoda catches the sun above the garden pond.

The Ensemble of Ten Important Cultural Properties

The Shoin is one of ten buildings at Myōjō-ji designated Important Cultural Properties. Visitors who take their time can walk between the main hall (1614), the founder's hall, the sutra repository, the three-deity hall, the kitchen hall, the niō gate, and the other structures, tracing seventy years of continuous daimyō patronage. Few Japanese temples preserve such a complete architectural ensemble from the early Edo period.

Around Myōjō-ji

Hakui City and the surrounding Noto Peninsula offer unexpected variety for visitors. Chirihama Nagisa Driveway, a few kilometers from the temple, is one of the only beaches in Japan where cars can legally drive along the sand at the water's edge. The nearby Keta Taisha Shrine, famous for matters of the heart, is one of the oldest Shintō shrines in the region and pairs naturally with a morning at Myōjō-ji. Hakui itself has also embraced a quirky local identity as a town of UFO lore, and its Cosmo Isle Hakui museum is an amusing stop for travelers curious about aerospace history and modern Japanese pop culture.

Please note that the Noto Peninsula was affected by a major earthquake in January 2024. Many sites are open to visitors, and tourism support is appreciated by local communities, but travelers are encouraged to confirm conditions before their trip.