Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence)

What Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) Is

Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) is a walled compound at Tonomine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, where five buildings of a former sub-temple of Myorakuji were entered on the national register as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 3 April 2020. The Japanese name 旧慈門院 is read Kyu-Jimon-in, and the family who live there, 陶原家, are the Suhara.

Myorakuji stood on the mountain of Tonomine, and smaller halls belonging to it were built within its precinct. Jimon-in was one of them.

What changed the compound was the separation of Buddhism and Shinto ordered in 1869. Myorakuji became Tanzan Shrine, and the head priest of Jimon-in returned to lay status and stayed on in the house as a shake, a family serving the new shrine. Nothing was torn down. The temple buildings simply took on a domestic role, which is why the room plan and the detailing of an Edo-period sub-temple survive inside what is now a private house. The Agency for Cultural Affairs, in its listing text, describes the compound as preserving the character of an early modern Myorakuji sub-temple.

The land adjoins the precinct of Tanzan Shrine. Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) occupies number 316 at Tonomine; the shrine is number 319.

How the Five Buildings Are Arranged

The buildings of Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) run from the entrance at the south towards the back of the plot. A stone retaining wall closes the southern edge, and the front gate sits on top of it. A flight of stone steps climbs to the door, so this is the face the compound turns to the road.

Between the north side of the front gate and the guest hall stands the heijumon, a light gate that separates the forecourt from the main garden on the east. At the centre is the building that holds the guest hall and priests' quarters, one long structure running east to west, with the guest hall at the east end and the kitchen wing at the west. North of the guest hall is the private Buddhist hall; northwest of the main house are the small parlor and the storehouse. The five stand around the forecourt and the garden.

Four of the five are classed as buildings in the register. Only the heijumon is classed as a structure rather than a building.

The Five Listings at Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence)

The Council for Cultural Affairs recommended the compound on 15 November 2019, and the listing was gazetted on 3 April 2020 in the ninety-fifth round. All five are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, carrying the consecutive numbers 29-0290 to 29-0294. Their construction dates spread over roughly two centuries, from the middle of the Edo period to the early Meiji years.

• Guest Hall and Priests' Quarters (Main House), mid-Edo period with late-Edo alterations, register number 29-0290
• Private Buddhist Hall, late Edo period, register number 29-0291
• Small Parlor and Storehouse, late Edo period, register number 29-0292
• Front Gate, early Meiji period, register number 29-0293
• Heijumon Gate, final years of the Edo period, register number 29-0294

The five were not listed on the same ground. Only the guest hall and priests' quarters qualified as a model of design. The other four qualified as contributions to the historic landscape of the country. The split says something useful: one building was judged on its own architectural quality, the other four on what they do for the compound as a place.

In the same round, three buildings of Former Shinpo-in (Nishimiya Family Residence), another former sub-temple at Tonomine, were listed as well.

Visiting Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence)

Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) is privately owned, and neither the interiors nor the grounds are open. There are no opening hours, no admission fee and no published channel for requesting a visit. The plot is private property and cannot be entered. Enquiries about registered properties in the city go to the Cultural Properties Division of the Sakurai City Board of Education.

The nearest station is Sakurai, served by the JR Sakurai Line and the Kintetsu Osaka Line. Buses leave from the south exit on the Tonomine community route, which Sakurai City runs with Nara Kotsu, and reach the last stop, Tanzan Jinja, in about 25 minutes. Departures are roughly hourly, and the city publishes a revised timetable whenever the schedule changes. A taxi from Sakurai Station takes about 15 minutes. There is no parking at the compound itself; the nearest car park belongs to Tanzan Shrine.

One part of the compound can be seen, though not here. The sliding-door and panel paintings from the four shoin rooms of the guest hall are now deposited at the Nara National Museum. Building and paintings sit in different places, so no single day covers both.

Journey times and service frequency were checked on 14 September 2026.