Kiyomizudera Temple Main Hall (Nagasaki)

A Temple Hall Built with Chinese Merchant Money

The Kiyomizudera Temple Main Hall (Nagasaki) (清水寺本堂) is the main hall of a Shingon temple of 1668 in Kajiyamachi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on December 24, 2010 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey hall five bays square under a hip-and-gable roof of hongawara tiles, with a tiled lean-to on the south side; a stone stele and a shrine cabinet are designated with it; designation number 02568.

A Hall Paid for by a Chinese Merchant

Kiyomizudera in Nagasaki is a Shingon temple founded in 1623, and its main hall was built in 1668 with a donation from He Gaocai (Ka Kōzai), a Chinese merchant (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The hall is five bays square: an outer worship space at the front of the centre, the inner sanctuary behind, and an open lean-to all round.

Nagasaki City says an earlier main hall modelled on Kiyomizudera in Kyoto stood here by 1627. He Gaocai, from Fujian, had settled in Nagasaki and grown rich in trade; the hall is said to have been built in memory of his wife, and a stele recording its construction still stands behind it.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency values its details peculiar to the halls of Ōbaku Zen temples: the open surrounding aisle, the Ōbaku-style ceiling of the outer hall and the carved blocks on the tie beams of the lean-to. It is also important as the oldest main hall of an esoteric Buddhist temple in Nagasaki Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on December 24, 2010.

What to Look For

Look at the Ōbaku-style ceiling of the outer hall and the open aisle around it (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Nagasaki City reports that the recent repair confirmed the painted patterns on the beams date from the original building, and their colours were restored.

Visiting

No official information on visiting hours or access to the interior of the hall was found.