Enshoji Temple Main Hall

A Small Square Hall That Changed Cities

Enshoji Temple Main Hall (圓證寺本堂, Enshō-ji Hondō) is a late Muromachi-period Buddhist hall at Enshoji Temple in Kamimachi, Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture, built in 1552 and designated an Important Cultural Property in 1971. It houses the temple's principal image, a seated wooden Shaka Buddha.

It measures 3 bays by 3 bays, single storey, with a hipped roof (yosemune) of full clay tiles (hongawara) and a 1-bay porch over the entrance. A hall three bays square like this is called a hōsangen-dō. One ridge tablet (Munafuda) is designated with it.

The hall went up 2 years after the death of Tsutsui Junshō, soon after Enshoji Temple was founded in his memory at Hayashikoji in Nara. In other words, Enshoji Temple Main Hall is essentially as old as the temple itself.

Plain Construction, Late Muromachi Detail

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes Enshoji Temple Main Hall as a simple hall whose only bracketing is the funahijiki, a single boat-shaped block set on top of each post, the most basic bracket form there is. There are no stacked bracket sets of the kind seen on large temple halls.

The Agency also notes that the details make full use of late Muromachi design. Small size and simple structure aside, it is the shaping of members and the handling of ornament that carry the period's character, and that is why it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1971.

At the time of designation in 1971, the Agency valued it as a medieval hall surviving in the city of Nara. The temple later moved to Ikoma and took the hall with it, so the building now stands among houses in a residential district. The relocation of a designated building along with its temple has become part of the hall's own history.

What to Look For

Ikoma City's description calls it a plain building in the native wayō style, with lattice doors set on three sides and a veranda running around it. From the front, the fine grid of the lattice plays against the weight of the tiled roof.

Look up under the eaves to find the funahijiki on the posts. With just one block between post and beam, the line of the eaves reads cleanly.

Right beside Enshoji Temple Main Hall stands the stone five-ring pagoda raised as Junshō's memorial, inscribed with the date of his death 2 years before the hall was built. Hall and pagoda were set up one after the other.

Seeing It in Person

To see Enshoji Temple Main Hall you must phone the temple and book in advance. No published information covers how much of the interior can be viewed or whether photography is allowed, so ask when you make the reservation. Directions and admission are on the Enshoji Temple page.