Hozoji Temple Rear Gate

What Is Hozoji Temple Rear Gate?

Hozoji Temple Rear Gate (法蔵寺裏門, Hōzō-ji Uramon) is a side gate built in 1928 in the southwest corner of Hozoji, a Jodo Shu (Pure Land) Buddhist temple in Toyoshina, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) on December 26, 2005.

It is a wooden, tiled gate with a frontage of 2.4 meters, of the Udekimon type, in which arms projecting from the posts carry the roof over a single opening. The Hozoji Rear Gate is the only Showa-era building among the temple's five registered buildings, about 135 years younger than the bell tower gate at the front.

Why the Hozoji Temple Rear Gate Was Registered

It was registered under the criterion of buildings that have become a model for later design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as small but showing real finesse in its details.

The gable roof (Kirizuma-zukuri) swells gently upward in a convex curve (Teri-mukuri) and is covered in pan tiles (Sangawara-buki). Short flanking walls (Sodobei) with their own small roofs extend to either side. The eaves are finished with light lath, and a transom (Ranma) carved with flowing water is one of several touches in the relaxed, refined sukiya taste associated with teahouses.

The gable end rewards a close look too. The bargeboards (Hafu) are carved with decorative patterns, and a pendant board (Gegyo) in the shape of stylized clouds hangs at the peak. Where the bell tower gate at the front speaks of formality, the Hozoji Rear Gate has the understated polish of a gate to a tea garden or a fine private house.

A Showa Gate That Was Moved Here

The Agency's database dates the gate to 1928 and records that it was relocated in Heisei 10, which corresponds to 1998. Its Western-calendar field, however, gives the relocation as 1999, one year later. Which year is correct, and where the gate originally stood, could not be confirmed from published sources.

The database also classifies the Hozoji Rear Gate differently from the other four buildings: they are filed under religion, while the gate is filed under housing and miscellaneous structures. No source explains its origin, but the gate is the only one of the five treated this way.

Visiting the Hozoji Temple Rear Gate

The Hozoji Rear Gate stands in the southwest corner of the grounds, about 50 meters south of the bell tower gate by the recorded coordinates. No information could be found on whether it is used as a working entrance, so view it from directly in front.

The curve of the roofline, the small roofs on the flanking walls, the flowing-water transom and the cloud pendant are all easiest to appreciate from close range in front of the gate. Keep photography to the exterior and do not block anyone passing through.