Engakuji Temple Shariden Hall

A Mid-Muromachi Zen-Style Hall, National Treasure since 1951

Engakuji Temple Shariden Hall (円覚寺舎利殿, Engakuji Shariden) is a mid-Muromachi Buddhist hall at Yamanouchi, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, designated a National Treasure in 1951, on 9 June. In 1899, on 5 April, it had been listed as a specially protected structure under the old preservation law. The quantity is one building: three bays along the front, three bays deep, single storey with a skirt roof, hip-and-gable, shingled. It belongs to Engakuji.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs is brief. Engakuji was founded in 1282 by Hojo Tokimune, and the Shariden is thought to have been built in the middle of the Muromachi period. As a Buddhist hall in the Chinese manner, the Song architectural style that came with Zen, it is the oldest in Japan and shows that style in its purest form.

The Chinese manner, also called the Zen style, is the northern Song manner imported with Zen in the Kamakura period. Oldest and purest: those two points make the assessment. It is also the only National Treasure building in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The Skirt Roof: Two Roofs, One Storey

From outside the roofs appear to be in two tiers, but the building has a single storey. The lower roof is a mokoshi, a skirt roof serving as both ornament and weather protection.

This is what the Agency's phrase, single storey with a skirt roof, records. Single storey states the height of the building; the skirt is added to it. The number of storeys and the number of roofs do not agree, and the exterior misleads on this point.

Features of the Zen style appear throughout. Rafters are set radiating out at the corners; the columns are tapered at top and bottom; the windows are cusped, shaped in a flame curve at the head. The upward turn of the eaves is also of the style.

Inside, the floor is bare earth rather than boards. Where a hall in the native manner is floored in planks or matting, the Zen style uses an earth floor. Leaving the floor unboarded is itself part of the style.

A Building Moved from Taiheiji

The hall was not built for Engakuji.

It was once taken for a building of the temple's founding, but it is now thought to be the Buddha hall of Taiheiji, moved here in the Muromachi period. Taiheiji was a nunnery at Nishimikado, said to have been founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo in gratitude to Ike no Zenni. It was abolished in the late Muromachi period, its Buddha hall going to Engakuji and its principal image, a Sho Kannon, to Tokeiji.

This is why the Agency dates the building to the middle of the Muromachi period, with a range from 1393 to 1466, while Engakuji itself was founded in 1282. The founding of the temple and the date of the building are separate matters, easily confused.

The Shariden stands within Shozokuin, a sub-temple of Engakuji. Shozokuin is the memorial precinct of the founder Mugaku Sogen, said to have been moved to its present site in 1335 by Muso Soseki.

Holding a Relic of the Buddha

The hall takes its name from the relic of the Buddha enshrined within. Minamoto no Sanetomo brought it from Song China, and it is said to be a tooth of the Buddha, known as the butsuge shari.

A crystal reliquary holding it stands in the inner sanctuary, with figures of Kannon and Jizo to either side.

Behind the Shariden is the founder's hall, holding a seated figure of Mugaku Sogen. It is not open to the public.

Visiting: A Few Days a Year, Exterior Only

The Shariden is not normally open. Shozokuin is a training hall for Zen monks and is closed as a rule.

Special openings are held about three times a year: the first three days of January, a few days during the holiday period in early May, and a few days in early November during the airing of the temple treasures. On all of these only the exterior is shown; the interior cannot be entered.

During the openings a charge for the Shariden applies in addition to the Engakuji admission. Whether an opening is held and on which dates varies by year, so check with the temple before travelling.

Engakuji itself opens from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and to 4:00 p.m. from December to February. From Kita-Kamakura Station on the JR Yokosuka Line it is about one minute on foot, and about five minutes, some 300 metres, from the main gate to Shozokuin.