Enjoji Two-Storied Gate

The Vermilion Gate Beyond the Pond

Enjoji Two-Storied Gate (圓成寺楼門, Enjō-ji Rōmon) is a late Muromachi-period gate at Enjoji Temple in Ninnikusen-cho, Nara City, rebuilt in 1468 and designated by the state in 1906; it is now classed as an Important Cultural Property. It stands at the back of the pond garden on the south side of the precinct and is the way into the temple.

It is a rōmon, a two-storey gate, three bays wide with a single passage through the central bay, under a hip-and-gable (irimoya) roof of cypress bark. The frame is lacquered vermilion.

According to the temple, the previous gate burned in 1466 and this one went up 2 years later, in 1468. That makes it 4 years older than the main hall of 1472 and the earliest of the buildings raised in the recovery after the fire.

First of the Rebuilt Halls

Enjoji Two-Storied Gate was designated in 1906, earlier than any other structure at the temple and 8 years before the shrine halls Kasugadō and Hakusandō were designated in 1914. Its value was recognized early.

The national database gives only the gate's form and date, with no written assessment. Two things point to its significance: the date, marking it as the first building to rise after the fire, and the carved panels over the lower passage.

The temple also notes that the gate was one of the few structures to survive its steep decline after the Meiji Restoration, and that it received a major repair alongside the main hall from 1882 onward. As other halls disappeared, the entrance was kept standing.

Two Faces, Two Carvings

The detail not to miss at Enjoji Two-Storied Gate is the pair of carved bracket panels, called hanahijiki, set above the lower passage. A bracket arm that would normally be a plain timber has been turned into a carved board, and the front and back carry different designs.

On the front, the side you see from the pond, a lotus scroll is carved in relief. At its centre a lotus flower supports a moon disc, and inside the disc is the Sanskrit seed syllable hrīḥ (kiriku in Japanese), the written sign of Amida Buddha. Before you even step through, the gate names the Buddha waiting in the main hall ahead.

Turn around once you are inside. The back panel shows a peony scroll with a sacred jewel resting on a peony at the centre. Giving the same timber two different subjects on its two faces is the kind of quiet craftsmanship that rewards a second look.

For the whole gate, stand on the south side of the pond. The vermilion frame and bark roof rise beyond the water, and garden and gate read as one picture.

Seeing It in Person

Enjoji Two-Storied Gate is the temple entrance, so every visitor walks through it. The upper storey is not open to the public. Pause once on each side: the front carving is seen from the pond side and the back carving from within the grounds.

The temple's visitor rules do not restrict photography of the gate's exterior. Admission and transport are covered on the Enjoji Temple page.