Shorenji Temple Sutra Repository

A Hexagonal Sutra Repository of 1879

The Shorenji Temple Sutra Repository (正蓮寺経蔵) is a plastered storehouse-style sutra repository of 1879 facing north beside the east side of the gate at the front of the precinct of Shorenji, a Shin Buddhist temple at Kamo-cho, Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 29, 2019 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey storehouse-style building with a tiled roof and a building area of 26 square metres, altered in 1992 and around 1998, registration number 37-442, owned by Shorenji.

Shorenji, a Shin Buddhist Temple below Goshikidai

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Shorenji is a temple of the Shin (True Pure Land) school at the western foot of the Goshikidai uplands in western Sakaide. Five of its structures, the mid-Edo gate, the Main Hall of 1825, the entrance halls of 1845, the sutra repository of 1879 and the bell tower of 1910, were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 29, 2019.

The Shorenji Temple Sutra Repository stands opposite the bell tower across the approach, and together they form the front of the precinct (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Shorenji Temple Sutra Repository was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes how it pairs with the bell tower across the approach to form the front of the precinct.

What to Look For

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Shorenji Temple Sutra Repository is hexagonal in plan with a hongawara roof and a porch under a gently swelling gabled roof. The thick plastered walls show the outlines of the pillars, with a door at the front and a cusped window on the west side.

The porch is lively with realistic carvings of animals (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The hexagonal storehouse form and the porch carvings are the highlights.

Visiting

The Shorenji Temple Sutra Repository is a temple building in the precinct of Shorenji. Please visit quietly, without disturbing worshippers or the temple.

The address is 1048 and others, Kamo-cho, Sakaide City. The five registered structures of Shorenji are gathered on the group page Shorenji Temple (Sakaide).