Myohoin Temple Kuri (Priests' Quarters)

A Momoyama Kitchen Hall

The Myohoin Temple Kuri (Priests' Quarters) (妙法院庫裏, Myohoin kuri) is a Momoyama-period kitchen and service hall at Myohoin in Myohoin-maegawa-cho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, and it was designated a National Treasure on June 18, 1957. It had first been designated under earlier law in 1914.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as 21.8 metres by 23.7 metres, a single storey under a hip-and-gable roof entered from the gable end, with a cusped-gable entrance porch of 1 ken on the front and a tiled roof. The Kyoto City Tourism Association notes that its ridge stands nearly 60 shaku high.

Why It Is a National Treasure

According to the Agency, the kuri is said to survive from the time before the temple moved to its present site, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi held a memorial service for a thousand monks at the Great Buddha Hall of Hokoji. If so, it would date from 1595; a ridge-end tile on the roof carries an inscription of 1604. The Agency itself states that the construction date is not certain.

The heart of its value is the interior framing. The front half is an earth-floored area and the rear a plank-floored room, with chambers at the back on either side. Above the earth floor and plank floor the roof structure is left fully exposed, and everything about it is on a grand scale, expressing the expansive spirit of the Momoyama period. A hip-and-gable roof is unusual for a kuri, but the Agency regards it as an outstanding example among buildings of this type from the period.

A temple kitchen surviving at this scale in Momoyama form gives a measure of the size of the Toyotomi building projects in Higashiyama. The Kyoto City Tourism Association likewise describes it as a building said to have served as the kitchen for Hideyoshi's thousand-monk service.

What to Look For

Outside, look at the gable-fronted hip-and-gable roof and the small smoke-vent roof perched on its ridge, there to let out kitchen smoke above a roof spanning 21.8 metres. The cusped-gable porch on the front gives the building its face.

When the interior is open, look up at the roof framing exposed above the earth floor and plank floor. Heavy beams and struts rise in tiers and form the ceiling itself; this is the space the Agency describes as embodying the grand spirit of the Momoyama period.

Visiting the Kuri

According to the Kyoto City Tourism Association, the interior of the kuri is normally closed and opens only for special viewings. The building is under renovation until 2027, and there are periods when the grounds cannot be entered.

The Satsukie festival on May 14 each year includes free viewing of cultural properties, but events may change during the renovation. Check with the temple before visiting. Access and contact details are on the Myohoin Temple page.