Bishamondo Hall (Narushima)

A Muromachi Hall for a Giant Guardian

The Bishamondo Hall (Narushima) (毘沙門堂, Narushima Bishamondo) is a late Muromachi Buddhist hall in the grounds of Mikumano Shrine in Kita-Narushima, Towa-cho, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on September 11, 1990. It once housed a colossal wooden statue of Tobatsu Bishamonten, the guardian deity, thought to date from the 10th century and itself an Important Cultural Property (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Hanamaki Tourism Association).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as three bays by three, single-storey, with a hipped (Yosemune-zukuri) roof, a one-bay porch and sheet-iron roofing. It is owned by the Bishamondo.

Why It Was Designated

The Bishamondo Hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1990. According to the Agency, nothing is known of the hall's founding or history, but the 10th-century colossus it housed shows how old its origins are.

The Bishamondo Hall is a fairly large three-bay hall under a hipped roof, built with thick pillars to an imposing design. Its details show the broad, generous style of the Muromachi period, and the Agency values it as one of the few medieval Buddhist halls surviving in Iwate Prefecture.

What to Look For

The Bishamondo Hall is three bays square with a one-bay porch, its weight carried on thick pillars (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Look up into the porch to see the girth of the posts and the plain shapes of the details.

The Hanamaki Tourism Association says the statue once kept here stands 4.73 metres, carved from a single zelkova trunk, and rises from the open palms of the earth goddess Chiten. The statue and the hall are each designated Important Cultural Properties.

Visiting the Bishamondo

According to Mikumano Shrine, the Tobatsu Bishamonten statue can be viewed from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (April to November), and photography is not allowed. The Bishamondo Hall stands in the shrine grounds and can be seen from outside. The address is Kita-Narushima, Towa-cho, Hanamaki City. A Bishamon festival with a baby-crying sumo contest is held every May (Hanamaki Tourism Association).