Horyuji Temple Restaurant and Hosoden

Hōryū-ji Jikidō and Hosodono: A Rare Twin-Hall from Japan's Nara Period

Tucked quietly behind the world-famous Five-Story Pagoda and Main Hall of Hōryū-ji Temple in Ikaruga, Nara, stands a pair of unassuming wooden buildings that may seem easy to overlook. Yet these two structures—the Jikidō (Refectory) and the Hosodono (Narrow Hall)—preserve one of the rarest architectural traditions to survive from the Nara period (710–794): the "narabidō," or twin-hall arrangement. The Jikidō is designated a National Treasure of Japan, while its companion Hosodono is registered as an Important Cultural Property. Together they form part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area," inscribed in 1993.

For visitors with an interest in early East Asian architecture, this overlooked corner of Hōryū-ji rewards a close, patient look. Few buildings anywhere in the world allow you to see a Nara-period twin-hall composition still standing in its original form.

Historical Background

The story of these two buildings is one of quiet transformation. According to the temple's eighth-century inventory, the "Hōryū-ji Garan Engi narabini Ruki Shizaichō," the structure now known as the Jikidō was originally built not as a dining hall but as a "mandokoro-ya"—a temple administrative office. It functioned as the working heart of Hōryū-ji's monastic management.

By the early Heian period (794–1185), however, the building's role had changed. As the religious life of the temple evolved and large numbers of monks needed a communal space to take meals during ritual gatherings, the former office was renovated and converted into a refectory. From that point forward it became known as the "Jikidō," literally "eating hall." The Japanese reading of these characters, jikidō, preserves an older Buddhist pronunciation; in modern Japanese the same characters are usually read shokudō and simply mean "dining room."

The neighboring Hosodono served as a kind of antechamber or front room to the Jikidō. Open on all four sides with no doors, it created a covered, well-ventilated space adjacent to the dining hall. Records suggest the two buildings were originally conceived as a single architectural unit, with their eaves nearly touching and a shared rain gutter running between them.

Why It Was Designated a Cultural Property

The Jikidō was first registered as an Important Cultural Property in 1901 and elevated to National Treasure status on November 22, 1952. The Hosodono remains an Important Cultural Property. The recognition rests on three intertwined values.

First, the Jikidō is one of the small handful of Nara-period wooden buildings still standing in Japan. Although the building underwent partial repairs over the centuries and incorporates timber from various periods, scholars agree that its core framework is essentially original. Distinctly Tempyō-era features—gracefully curved bracket arms (hijiki), beams and ridge poles with circular cross-sections, and the hallmark double rainbow-beam-and-frog-leg-strut construction (nijū kōryō kaerumata)—are preserved with remarkable clarity.

Second, the Jikidō and Hosodono together preserve the "narabidō" (twin-hall) format, an architectural arrangement once common in ancient Japan but now extraordinarily rare. In an age when constructing a single very large building was technically demanding, builders solved the problem of creating expansive interior space by erecting two parallel halls under closely set eaves, treating them functionally as one structure. This site is among the very few places where the format survives intact.

Third, the buildings hold value as a witness to changing monastic life. A structure that began as an administrative office and was later adapted to ritual dining tells the story of how Buddhist communities at major temples evolved across centuries while reusing their architectural inheritance with care.

Architectural Highlights to Look For

The Jikidō is a horizontally proportioned building with seven bays across the front (kegyō shichi-ken) and four bays in depth (hari-ma yon-ken). It rises a single story under a gabled roof (kirizuma-zukuri) covered in traditional hongawara tiles—the formal layered system of round and flat tiles characteristic of major temple architecture. Its scale was significant: the temple's own ancient inventory describes the Jikidō as comparable in size to the Great Lecture Hall, the largest building in the western precinct.

Although visitors cannot enter the Jikidō under normal circumstances, the exterior offers much to study. The bracket arms supporting the eaves show the soft, flowing curves typical of Tempyō craftsmanship rather than the tighter, more angular shapes of later periods. Looking up at the eaves, you can see the rounded cross-sections of the principal beams, another archaic feature.

The Hosodono next door has its own quiet character. Because it is open on all sides, you can see straight through it to the Jikidō behind. Its ceiling is finished as a "keshō yane-ura"—a decorative exposed-rafter ceiling that displays the underside of the roof structure as a finished surface. The supporting brackets are simple "funa-hijiki," boat-shaped pieces that hint at the building's secondary, anteroom function.

If you look carefully along the meeting line of the two buildings' eaves, you may notice traces of where a shared rain gutter once channeled water away—physical evidence that the two halls were always intended to function together.

Visiting Information

The Jikidō and Hosodono stand in the eastern part of Hōryū-ji's western precinct (Saiin Garan), in the area between the Kōfūzō (Government-Sealed Storehouse) and the Daihōzō-in (Great Treasure Gallery). Most visitors pass them on the way out of the Daihōzō-in, after viewing the temple's renowned collection of ancient sculpture and decorative arts.

Access is included in the standard Hōryū-ji combined admission ticket, which covers the western precinct, the Daihōzō-in, and the eastern precinct (Tō-in Garan). The buildings are not entered by ordinary visitors—you view them from the path that runs alongside. Because the structures stand at some distance from the path and detail is hard to appreciate with the unaided eye, bringing a small pair of binoculars or a telephoto lens enriches the experience.

One special exception applies. On April 8 each year, the Jikidō is opened for the Bussho-e ceremony marking the historical Buddha's birthday. A small image of the infant Buddha is placed on a stand before the principal image, and worshippers pour sweet hydrangea tea (amacha) over it in a ritual gesture. This is the only day of the year when the interior is accessible.

Hōryū-ji is generally open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (until 4:30 p.m. from November 4 through February 21). The temple is reached on foot in roughly 20 minutes from JR Hōryūji Station, or by local bus to the Hōryūji-mae stop.

Surrounding Attractions

The Jikidō and Hosodono are best appreciated as part of an unhurried walk through the entire Hōryū-ji complex. Just steps away stands the Kōfūzō, a Heian-period storehouse built in the rare "narabikura" twin-storehouse format—an interesting parallel to the twin-hall arrangement of the Jikidō and Hosodono themselves. The Daihōzō-in nearby exhibits the Kudara Kannon, the Tamamushi Shrine, and other masterpieces of early Buddhist art.

To the west lies the famous core of Hōryū-ji: the Chūmon (Central Gate), Kondō (Main Hall), and Five-Story Pagoda, all considered among the world's oldest surviving wooden buildings, dating from the Asuka period (538–710). To the east, a short walk leads to the Tō-in Garan and its octagonal Yumedono (Hall of Dreams), where the secret image of Guze Kannon is occasionally unveiled.

For travelers with more time, the surrounding Ikaruga area offers the smaller but equally evocative Hōki-ji (also a World Heritage component, with Japan's oldest surviving three-story pagoda) and Chūgū-ji, the nunnery temple that houses the deeply admired Miroku Bosatsu image. The area can be comfortably explored on foot or by rental bicycle in a single day.