Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall

What the Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall is

Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall (教王護国寺灌頂院, the Kanjō-in of Tō-ji) is an early Edo-period Buddhist hall in the southwest of Tō-ji in Kujo-cho, Minami Ward, Kyoto City, recorded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as a building of 1629 and designated an Important Cultural Property in 1940.

The designation covers three structures: the hall itself and the North Gate and East Gate that open into its walled compound. Both gates are early Kamakura-period Shikyakumon, four-legged gates, and were added to the Important Cultural Property listing in 1955.

The name explains the building's purpose. Kanjō, often translated as "abhiseka" or consecration, is the esoteric Buddhist rite in which a master formally transmits the teaching to a disciple and recognizes them as a legitimate heir. The Kanjoin is the hall built to stage that rite. Tō-ji still owns a set of painted screens of the Twelve Devas that its website describes as having been used in these ceremonies.

A hall placed off the main axis

Tō-ji's principal buildings follow a single north-south line, from the South Gate through the Golden Hall, Lecture Hall and Dining Hall to the Great North Gate. The Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall stands away from that line, in the southwest. Across the axis, in the southeast, rises the five-storied pagoda, so the two sit as a matched pair.

The Cultural Heritage Online commentary on Kyoto's World Heritage sites singles out this placement: a Kanjoin set west of the old middle gate is what marks Tō-ji out as an esoteric temple. Put simply, a state temple built to guard the capital reshaped its layout around Shingon ritual once Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) received it in 823.

According to the Kyoto City Tourism Association, the first Kanjoin was built around 843 by Jichie, one of Kūkai's disciples, on the model of Qinglong-si, the temple in Tang China where Kūkai himself had trained.

A 17th-century rebuilding, with two dates on record

The present Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall replaced a building damaged in the earthquake of 1585. Sources disagree on the date. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives 1629, while the Kyoto City Tourism Association says the work was completed in 1634. Public sources do not make clear if one figure marks the start and the other the finish, so this article follows the national database in its basic information.

The hall is single-storey, 7 bays wide and 7 bays deep, with a Yosemune-zukuri (hipped) roof in Hongawarabuki tiles. That square footprint makes it a very large building for its type, and the tourism association calls it the biggest consecration hall of its kind.

Inside, the space is split in two. A main sanctuary lies to the north, a worship hall to the south, and a connecting room called the ai-no-ma joins them. Japanese architectural history calls this paired arrangement narabidō, a double hall: one roof on the outside, but separate spaces for performing the rite and for those attending it.

Both gates are dated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to the early Kamakura period, 1185 to 1274, and both have gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roofs in the same heavy tile. When the hall was rebuilt in the Edo period, these medieval entrances to its compound were kept.

Stage for the Goshichinichi Mishiho

Every year from January 8 to 14, the Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall hosts the Goshichinichi Mishiho, a seven-day Shingon rite for the wellbeing of the emperor and good harvests. The Tōji Hyakugō Monjo website of the Kyoto Institute, Library and Archives explains its path: Kūkai proposed the rite, and it began in 835 inside the Shingon-in, a hall within the imperial palace. It was abolished in 1871, revived in 1883, and at that revival the venue moved to the Kanjoin at Tō-ji, where it has stayed.

Tō-ji calls it the highest ceremony of the Shingon school, attended by the heads of its branches. Because the rite is secret, no one may enter the hall. Visitors can, however, watch and pay respects as the procession of monks enters and leaves.

The North Gate has its own day of the year.

On April 21, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., the temple opens it to show the ema, painted votive horse plaques, hung at the sacred well (akai). There are three: two years ago on the left, last year on the right, the current year in the middle. According to Tō-ji's event calendar, the build of the painted horse is read as a forecast for the economy and the harvest.

Visiting the Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall

The Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall is not open to the public, and there is no admission to the interior. What you can see is the broad roof rising above the compound wall, along with the North Gate and East Gate from outside.

If you want to time a visit, aim for the Goshichinichi Mishiho in the second week of January or the North Gate opening on April 21. Both dates come from Tō-ji's published event schedule and could change, so check the temple's "Rituals" page before you set out.

The Kyoogokokuji Temple Kanjoin Hall occupies the southwest part of the main compound. Enter by the South Gate and head west, and the compound wall and the hall's broad roof come into view. The East Gate faces toward the temple's central axis, and the North Gate opens on the north side of the enclosure.