Jisaiin Temple Front Gate

A Single-Bay Gate Facing the Tenryū-ji Approach

Jisaiin Temple Front Gate (慈済院表門, Jisai-in Omotemon) is the entrance gate of Jisaiin, a Zen sub-temple within Tenryū-ji in Saga, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto; it was built in the early Edo period, between 1615 and 1661, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2016. It stands on the approach that leads from Tenryū-ji's outer gate to the head temple's priests' quarters, and it forms Jisaiin's public face on that path.

The gate is a one-bay Yakuimon: two main posts carry most of the roof, while a pair of rear posts keeps them from tipping. The roof is a gabled form covered in interlocking pan-and-roll tiles, the opening is 2.8 meters wide, and a small wicket door is set to the east. The overall type is standard for a temple gate. What sets Jisaiin's gate apart is the way the timbers are stacked beneath the ridge.

Why the Jisaiin Front Gate Counts Among Tenryū-ji's Oldest

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Jisaiin Front Gate as one of the oldest front gates at Tenryū-ji, and one that preserves the way a sub-temple presented itself to the approach. It was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape.

Tenryū-ji lost its halls to fire in 1815 and again in 1864. Jisaiin was among the sub-temples that escaped the 1864 blaze, which is why a gate more than two centuries older than the head temple's Meiji-era rebuilds still stands a short walk from them. Of the gates a visitor passes on the approach, Jisaiin Temple Front Gate is among the very oldest.

Its date range also overlaps the Kan'ei era (1624–1645), when Jisaiin is said to have moved to its present site. No record has been found that links the move to the building of the gate, but the coincidence of dates is worth keeping in mind.

What to Look For: Tie Beam and Plank Strut

Look up. A tie beam, the kabuki, runs across the tops of the two main posts, and it is clamped from above and below by a pair of beams known as the male and female beams. On the upper beam sits a flat, plank-cut Kaerumata (frog-leg strut), and that plank carries the ridge beam. Post, tie beam, paired beams, plank strut, ridge: from the front of the Jisaiin Front Gate you can read the whole load path in one glance.

The eaves use two tiers of widely spaced rafters. Doubling the rafters and spacing them out lets the edge of a heavy tiled roof look light.

Straight ahead through the gate, almost on the same line, is the Shikidai entrance of Jisaiin's entrance corridor. The gate is less a freestanding structure than the starting point of an axis that draws a visitor from the approach to the door.

Seeing the Jisaiin Front Gate

Jisaiin is normally closed to the public, and you cannot pass through the gate. Because Jisaiin Temple Front Gate faces the Tenryū-ji approach, however, its exterior can be seen from there: enter by the outer gate and look for it about halfway along on the north side.

The plank strut and tie beam sit deep in the shadow of the eaves, and under a high sun the steps between the timbers are hard to make out. Low morning or late-afternoon light picks out the stacked beams more clearly. A barrier is sometimes placed in front of the gate; if so, view it from outside the barrier.

No notice banning photography has been confirmed, but the approach is busy, so shoot from a spot where you are not in anyone's way. Directions to Tenryū-ji and its opening hours are collected on the Jisaiin Temple page.