Honganji Temple Entrance Hall (Nami-no-ma, Tora-no-ma and Taiko-no-ma)

An Entrance Hall and Three Rooms, Designated as One Building

The Honganji Temple Entrance Hall (Nami-no-ma, Tora-no-ma and Taiko-no-ma) (本願寺玄関、浪之間、虎之間、太鼓之間, Honganji Genkan, Nami-no-ma, Tora-no-ma, Taiko-no-ma) is an early Edo-period building of 1615 to 1660 at Honganji (Nishi Honganji) in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, designated an Important Cultural Property on February 18, 1904.

The name lists an entrance and three rooms, but the designation counts them as a single building. The Agency for Cultural Affairs classes it as residential architecture and dates it only to the early Edo period, without giving a construction year.

Several of Honganji's residential buildings hold separate designations: the main shoin (Taimensho and Shiroshoin), the Kuroshoin and its corridor, and the north and south Noh stages. The Honganji Temple Entrance Hall (Nami-no-ma, Tora-no-ma and Taiko-no-ma) is another of these, covering the entrance and the rooms that follow it. The room names translate roughly as the Wave Room, the Tiger Room and the Drum Room.

Two Sets of Measurements in the Agency's Record

The Agency's structural entry for the Honganji Temple Entrance Hall gives its size in two parts. The entrance and the Nami-no-ma together measure 6 bays across by 5 deep, while the Tora-no-ma and Taiko-no-ma measure 5 bays by 9. The whole is single-storey, with a hip-and-gable Irimoya-zukuri roof covered in Hiwadabuki, layered cypress bark.

Read side by side, the figures show that the Tora-no-ma and Taiko-no-ma block runs much deeper than the entrance block. Although designated as one building, it is recorded as two distinct parts: an entrance side and a deeper range of rooms behind it.

The roofing sets it apart as well. The Agency records the main shoin in the same precinct with a heavy tiled roof, whereas the Honganji Temple Entrance Hall is roofed in cypress bark.

Nami-no-ma Written Two Ways

The designated name writes Nami-no-ma with the character 浪, but the structural entry in the same database writes it 波. Both mean "wave", both are read nami, and both refer to the same room, so it is worth searching under either form.

Neither the Agency's database nor Honganji's official guide explains the origin of the room names or describes the paintings inside. This article therefore keeps to what primary sources confirm about the Honganji Temple Entrance Hall: its structure, its dimensions and its designation.

Visiting the Honganji Temple Entrance Hall

Honganji treats its shoin buildings as non-public cultural properties. On the 16th of every month except January, which the temple calls Shinran's Day, worshippers who attend the morning service and sermon may join a monk-guided tour of the shoin. Registration is at the Ryūkoden hall from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the day, the tour runs from 11:00 a.m. until about noon, places are limited to 40 with no advance booking, and photography is not allowed.

The temple does not say if the tour passes through the Honganji Temple Entrance Hall and its three rooms, so ask at registration if you hope to see them. Directions to Honganji and opening hours are on the Honganji page.