Gyokurin-in Main Hall

A Large Abbot's Hall of 1621 at Daitokuji

The Gyokurin-in Main Hall (玉林院本堂) is an abbot's-quarters-type main hall of a sub-temple of Daitokuji of 1621 in Murasakino Daitokujicho, Kita Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on May 18, 1985 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey hip-and-gable building 23.1 by 15.0 metres with a pantile roof, designated with its entrance porch and a building account; designation number 02169.

An Eight-Room Abbot's Hall

Gyokurin-in is a sub-temple of Daitokuji founded by a physician who served the imperial court, and its Nanmyoan hall and tea rooms were already Important Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The main hall follows the abbot's-quarters type, but two rooms are added at the upper end of the usual six-room plan to make eight, giving a large building with stout, imposing timbers throughout (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency designates this large eight-room abbot's hall, with its early plan and its paintings by the Kano Tan'yu school, as an Important Cultural Property together with its entrance porch and a building account.

Sliding-Door Paintings of the Kano School

It preserves an early plan with few formal display alcoves, and the sliding-door paintings by Kano Tan'yu and leading painters of his school survive well, adding to the value of the building (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

What to Look For

Look for the imposing eight-room plan and the sliding-door paintings by Kano Tan'yu and his school (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Gyokurin-in (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official visiting information was found.