Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin: A Two-Story Reception Hall of Layered Roofs
The Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin (龍口寺大書院, Ryūkō-ji Daishoin) is a two-story wooden reception hall in the southeastern part of Ryukoji Temple in Katase, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, dated by national records to 1932 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2021 under registration number 14-294.
A shoin is the formal reception wing of a temple or residence, where guests are received in tatami rooms. This one covers a building area of 399 square meters under a tiled roof, with 6 rooms of different sizes on the ground floor and 2 large halls upstairs. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a large-scale facility for receiving guests. It is by far the biggest of the four registered buildings at Ryukoji, and the only one with two stories.
Two Accounts of Where the Great Shoin Came From
The official record and the temple tell different stories about the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives a date of 1932 and says nothing about relocation.
The temple's website describes another history. In the early Meiji years, it says, the Kubota family, who ran a silk and sericulture business in Matsushiro in what is now Nagano Prefecture, built a mansion known as the "silk palace." That building was moved to Ryukoji in 1935 and reborn as the Great Shoin.
The published sources do not make clear which stage of the building each date refers to. This article uses 1932, the registered date, and records the temple's relocation story alongside it.
An Imposing Front Built from Stacked Roofs
The Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the national description singles out the skill with which its roofs are layered.
The main block has a hipped-and-gabled irimoya roof with its entrance on the gable end, an arrangement called Tsumairi. Projecting in front of it are a single-story wing under a plain gabled kirizuma roof and a formal entrance porch, or Shikidai, with its own irimoya roof and a pent eave. Three roofs of different heights step back one behind another and lead the eye up to the two-story mass behind them. The Agency's description calls the result grand and imposing.
Coved Coffered Ceilings and Room-by-Room Alcove Design
Inside the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin, the ground floor is divided into 6 rooms, large and small, while the upper floor holds 2 great halls. Both halls have a coved and coffered ceiling, a coffered ceiling whose central field is raised a step higher on curved coving, which the national description says gives the rooms a broad, open feel.
The formal decorative fittings of the rooms, such as the alcove and display shelves, are designed differently in every room. Rather than repeating one pattern, each space was given its own treatment, a clear sign that the building was made to impress guests.
According to the temple, the hall is built of zelkova wood, and along the wide corridors on both sides a row of cedar posts, each a single uninterrupted length, runs for 12 ken (about 22 meters).
Visiting the Ryukoji Great Shoin
The temple's website makes no mention of opening the interior of the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin to the public, so a visit centers on the exterior as seen from the grounds. If you hope to see inside, contact the temple in advance (phone 0466-25-7357, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).
To read the stacked roofs, stand a little off to one side rather than squarely in front. From an angle, the entrance porch, the gabled wing and the gable of the main block behind them separate into distinct planes.
The temple notes that the restrooms are located between the Ryukoji Great Shoin and the Bell Tower, which helps in finding the building.
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Q&A
- When was the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin built?
- National records date it to 1932. The temple says it was built in Matsushiro, Nagano Prefecture, in the early Meiji years and moved to Ryukoji in 1935.
- Can I go inside the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin?
- The temple's website does not announce any public opening of the interior. Contact the temple in advance if you wish to see inside.
- How large is the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin?
- It is a two-story wooden building with a building area of 399 square meters, containing 6 rooms on the ground floor and 2 large halls upstairs.
- What is distinctive about the exterior of the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin?
- A single-story gabled wing and a formal entrance porch project in front of the gable-entry main block, so three roofs of different heights are stacked into one imposing facade.
- When did the Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On February 26, 2021, under registration number 14-294.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryukoji Temple Great Shoin (龍口寺大書院) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2822 Katase 3-chome, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2021 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 2 stories, building area 399 square meters |
| Owner | Ryukoji Temple Religious Corporation |
| Public Access | Exterior open to visitors; no public opening of the interior announced |
References
- Cultural Properties Database: Ryukoji Great Shoin (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013697
- Ryukoji Great Shoin (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/517307
- About Ryukoji Temple (Jakkozan Ryukoji, Japanese)
- https://ryuukoji.com/about/
- Frequently Asked Questions (Jakkozan Ryukoji, Japanese)
- https://ryuukoji.com/faq/
Last verified: 2026.09.15
