National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties · Nara

Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse

Todaiji Great Bathhouse: A Medieval Bath Hall With Chōgen's Iron Tub

Todaiji's Great Bathhouse, a medieval bath hall dated to 1408 with three rooms and an iron tub cast for Chōgen in 1197, seen across a rice field from the back lane.

Designation National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties

Location Nara

Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse: A Medieval Bath Hall on the Back Lane

The Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse (東大寺大湯屋, Ōyuya) is a mid-Muromachi-period bath hall beside the back lane below the Nigatsudō at Todaiji in Zoshicho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, dated to 1408 and designated an Important Cultural Property in 1903.

The temple describes the way: go down the covered stone stairway west from the north side of the Nigatsudō, pass between the monks' lodging and the dining hall, and you reach a back lane lined with sub-temples. The long east-west building seen across a rice field on the left is the Great Bathhouse, where monks purified themselves. The temple says it is said either to have been repaired by Chōgen or to have been newly built in 1239.

Form and Three Rooms

The Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse is eight bays by five, a single storey entered from the gable end, with a hip-and-gable roof at the front and a plain gabled roof at the back, all in clay tiles. The change of roof form from front to back is its most distinctive outward feature.

According to the temple, the long interior is divided into three: an anteroom at the front, the bathing room in the centre and an earth-floored boiler room at the back. In the bathing room, a small roofed bath enclosure stands against the rear wall, and inside it sits a large iron tub. In the past, slatted boards were laid inside the enclosure and bathers poured hot water over themselves.

Chōgen's Iron Tub

The tub in the Todaiji Great Bathhouse was cast in 1197 by the founder Kusakabe Koresuke on Chōgen's orders, and is itself an Important Cultural Property. It shows that Chōgen, leading Todaiji's recovery after the fire of 1180, rebuilt not only halls but also the equipment of the monks' daily life.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the building to 1408, about two centuries after the tub. The temple labels the building Kamakura period, so published dates vary.

Why the Great Bathhouse Is an Important Cultural Property

The Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1903, under the Ancient Shrines and Temples Preservation Law of the time.

The temple calls it a valuable survival that shows what a medieval bath hall was like, with its anteroom, bathing room and boiler room, its bath enclosure and its iron tub. It is not a hall of worship or ceremony like the Great Buddha Hall or the Great South Gate but a working building that kept the temple running, and it survives with its equipment in its medieval arrangement.

Seeing the Great Bathhouse

The Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse is closed to the public and cannot be entered. You can see it across the rice field from the back lane below the Nigatsudō. The difference between the hip-and-gable front and the gabled back is easiest to read from the side.

Walk down the covered stairway from the Nigatsudō and along the back lane to see it together with the Nigatsudō Sanrosho. Directions are on the Todaiji Temple page.

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Q&A

QWhen was the Todaiji Great Bathhouse built?: AThe Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to 1408. The temple says it is said either to have been repaired by Chōgen or newly built in 1239.

QWhat is inside the Todaiji Great Bathhouse?: AThree rooms: an anteroom, a bathing room with a bath enclosure holding an iron tub, and a boiler room at the back.

QWhen was the iron tub in the Todaiji Great Bathhouse made?: AIn 1197, by the founder Kusakabe Koresuke on Chōgen's orders. The tub is also an Important Cultural Property.

QCan I go inside the Todaiji Great Bathhouse?: ANo. It is closed; you can see the outside from the back lane.

QWhere is the Todaiji Great Bathhouse?: AOn the back lane reached by going down the covered stairway west from the Nigatsudō, past the monks' lodging and dining hall.

Basic Information

Name	Todaiji Temple Great Bathhouse
Location	Zoshicho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture
Designation	Important Cultural Property
Year Designated	1903
Quantity	1 building
Dimensions	8 x 5 bays, single storey, hip-and-gable front, gabled rear, gable-end entrance, clay tiles
Owner	Todaiji Temple
Public Access	Closed. Exterior visible free from the back lane