Daikakuji Guest Hall (Taimenjo)

About the Daikakuji Guest Hall (Taimenjo)

The Daikakuji Guest Hall (大覚寺客殿（対面所）), or Taimenjo, is a hip-and-gable building with a cypress-bark roof of the Momoyama period (1573 to 1614) at Daikakuji in Saga, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on February 8, 1912. It served as the audience hall for receiving guests (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as seven bays across the front and eight at the back, four bays deep, single-storey, with a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) cypress-bark roof. It is owned by the religious corporation Daikakuji, an imperial temple created from Emperor Saga's detached palace and known as the Saga Palace (Kyoto City Tourism Association).

Why It Was Designated

The Daikakuji Guest Hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1912. A Momoyama-period guest hall, it was where the imperial temple known as the Saga Palace received its visitors (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Kyoto City Tourism Association).

What to Look For

The Daikakuji Guest Hall is seven bays across the front but eight at the back, and four bays deep (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Its hip-and-gable cypress-bark roof preserves the look of a Momoyama guest hall at an imperial temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Check the temple's guide on your visit to see which hall it is.

Visiting the Daikakuji Guest Hall (Taimenjo)

According to the Kyoto City Tourism Association, the hall area and the Osawa Pond area are both open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.). Admission to the hall area is 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for school pupils; the pond area is 500 yen and 100 yen. The temple may close irregularly for its own ceremonies.

Take a city or Kyoto bus to Daikakuji, or walk about 20 minutes from the north exit of JR Saga-Arashiyama Station. Telephone 075-871-0071 (Kyoto City Tourism Association). Photography and video inside the halls are not permitted (Daikakuji).