Nippon Sei Ko Kai Kyoto Holy Trinity Church

A Japanese-Style Anglican Church in Kyoto

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai Kyoto Holy Trinity Church (日本聖公会京都聖三一教会) is a two-storey timber church of 1930 in Jurakumawari Naka-machi, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 14, 1999. A kindergarten occupies the ground floor and the chapel the upper floor; it was designed by Bergamini (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a two-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 182 square metres; registration number 26-0049, owned by the Kyoto Diocese of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church in Japan.

Why It Was Registered

The Kyoto Holy Trinity Church was registered as a building that has become a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its half-timbered style in the manner of Japanese exposed-frame building, on a brick foundation with vertical boarding below, and to the light trusses with geometric curves in the chapel roof.

The Kyoto association of registered cultural property owners notes that among early Showa timber religious buildings in a Japanese style, the only other survivor in Kyoto is the Anglican Momoyama Christ Church of 1936.

What to Look For

Outside, the Kyoto Holy Trinity Church is boarded on the ground floor and has exposed framing upstairs, with tall windows between the posts; the upper gable carries plasterwork of a cross and a grapevine (Kyoto association of registered property owners).

Inside the chapel, curved king-post trusses give a plain Western character, but grapevine carvings modelled on temple ornament decorate the ends of the tie beams, bringing in traditional elements. The plan was designed from the start with two kindergarten rooms below and the chapel above (Kyoto association of registered property owners).

Visiting the Kyoto Holy Trinity Church

According to the Kyoto association of registered property owners, the Kyoto Holy Trinity Church is open as a working church. Check service times with the church. The address is 45-1 Jurakumawari Naka-machi, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto; telephone 075-841-3281.