Todaiji Temple Tegaimon Gate

Todaiji Temple Tegaimon Gate: A Nara-Period Gate That Survived

The Todaiji Temple Tegaimon Gate (東大寺転害門, Tegai-mon) is an eight-legged gate of the Nara period, from around the Tenpyō-hōji era (757 to 765), at the northwest corner of Todaiji in Zoshicho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, designated a National Treasure in 1952.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Tegaimon was one of the gates built when Todaiji was founded, opening near the north end of the earthen wall that marked the temple's western edge. Because it faced the Sahoji road of the old capital, it was called the Northwest Great Gate and the Sahoji Gate, and later written with several characters all read tegai. The temple adds that it is also called the Kagekiyo Gate, after a legend that the warrior Taira no Kagekiyo hid there to ambush Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Spared by Two Fires

Todaiji lost most of its buildings to fires in 1180 and 1567. The Tegaimon Gate came through both, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs counts it and the Hokkedō as the only Todaiji buildings still standing from the founding period. The temple describes the gate as the only surviving structure that lets you picture the temple architecture of the Tenpyō era.

It was not left untouched. Inscriptions on its roof tiles show a major repair in the Kenkyū era (1190 to 1199), when the bracket sets were changed from the simple Mitsudo-gumi type to the projecting Degumi type and an extra purlin was added, raising the ridge and deepening the eaves. In the years of Todaiji's Kamakura revival, the old gate grew a little taller.

Reading the Structure of the Tegaimon

The Todaiji Temple Tegaimon Gate is three bays wide with one central opening, a Hakkyakumon, under a gabled roof of clay tiles. The Agency notes that despite the later changes above, the gate keeps its original three-bay, single-opening, eight-legged form.

Look at the gable ends. Each shows a double tie-beam (Kōryō) carrying Kaerumata struts, a framing method the Agency identifies as widely used in the Nara period.

Step underneath and look up: each of the two bays in depth has its own exposed roof frame, so the ceiling rises and falls like three small roofs side by side, an arrangement known as mitsumune-zukuri.

Why the Tegaimon Gate Is a National Treasure

The Todaiji Temple Tegaimon Gate was first protected in 1899 under the Ancient Shrines and Temples Preservation Law and became a National Treasure in 1952. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a Nara-period eight-legged gate and one of the very few remains of Todaiji as first built.

Its broad, solid form, the Agency writes, still conveys the grandeur of the eighth-century temple. Where the Great Buddha Hall and Great South Gate are rebuildings, the Tegaimon is one of the few direct witnesses to the scale of Nara-period Todaiji.

Visiting the Todaiji Tegaimon Gate

The Todaiji Temple Tegaimon Gate stands at the far northwest of the grounds, facing Ichijō-dōri. There is no fence or ticket desk; you can see it at any hour, free of charge. It is a short detour from the Great Buddha Hall area, best added after the Great South Gate and the hall.

To see the double tie-beams in the gables, walk round to the east or west side and stand back a little. From the passage beneath, the triple-ridged ceiling is visible. Hours and directions for the rest of Todaiji are on the Todaiji Temple page.