Shuonan Temple Main Hall

A Zen Hall of 1506

The Shuonan Temple Main Hall (酬恩庵本堂) is the late Muromachi main hall of Shuonan, the Zen temple revived by the monk Ikkyu, also called Ikkyuji of 1506 in Takigi, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on April 17, 1911 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a three-bay square single-storey hall with a hip-and-gable cypress-bark roof and a rear pent roof; designation number 00567.

The 1911 date in the Agency record is that of its designation under the former law.

The Main Hall of Ikkyu's Temple

The main hall of Shuonan in Takigi, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto, dates from 1506 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Shuonan is a Zen temple revived by the monk Ikkyu, and is also called Ikkyuji. The hall is three bays square and single-storey, with a hip-and-gable roof of cypress bark and a pent roof at the back.

According to Kyoto Prefecture, the temple was first called Myoshoji and began as a Zen training hall founded by the master Daio Kokushi in the Shoo era (1288–1293). The grounds also keep an abbot's hall with its entrance, a kitchen, a latrine, a bathhouse and a bell tower of the early Edo period, all Important Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency record has no commentary; the date, 1506, and its form, a three-bay square hip-and-gable hall with a cypress-bark roof, set out what was designated.

What to Look For

At the main hall, look for the three-bay square Zen hall under its cypress-bark hip-and-gable roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The main hall is owned by Shuonan (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to Kyoto Prefecture (updated March 25, 2026), the temple is 25 minutes on foot from Kintetsu Shin-Tanabe Station, 20 minutes from JR Kyotanabe Station, or 5 minutes from the Ikkyuji-michi stop of Keihan Bus; no hours or fees are given. The main hall and the six other buildings are introduced together on the Shuonan Temple (Ikkyuji) page.