Emyoji Temple

Emyoji Temple

Emyoji Temple (恵明寺), at the eastern foot of Mount Zozan in Matsushiro, Nagano City, keeps three structures registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on September 10, 2010: the main hall and bell tower of 1833 and the gate of 1677 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency values the main hall as a regional example of a Buddha hall in the Ōbaku Zen manner.

The Three Structures

The main hall, at the centre of the grounds, is a hip-and-gable hall five bays wide and six deep, with a pent roof that gives it the look of a Chinese-style Buddha hall (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The bell tower, east of the hall and between it and the gate, is a two-storey tower one bay square, its ground floor dressed in boards and plaster to look like a flared skirt.

The gate is a tiled timber gate 2.1 metres wide and the oldest of the three (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each structure is described on its own page.

Visiting

No official information from the temple could be found, so access arrangements and travel times are not given here.