Rengebuji Temple Hassodo Hall

A Hall with an Oversized Roof

The Rengebuji Temple Hassodo Hall (蓮華峰寺八祖堂) is a three-bay hall of the mid-Edo period in the precinct of Rengebuji Temple in Kobie, Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on August 21, 2002 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber hall with a copper roof and a building area of 29 square metres; registration number 15-0126.

A Big Roof on the Hill

The Rengebuji Temple Hassodo Hall stands on a hill north of the Kondo, a hall three bays across with a hip-and-gable roof of copper shaped like thatch (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The name means hall of the eight patriarchs.

Sado Sightseeing Navi also singles out its large copper roof in the form of thatch.

Why It Was Registered

The Rengebuji Temple Hassodo Hall was registered as a structure that would not be easy to reproduce. The Agency counts it, with the Octagonal Hall, among the most unusual designs in the precinct.

What to Look For

Its bracketing projects an exceptional five steps, so together with the thatch-form copper the roof looks especially large (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A roof out of all proportion to the small hall is the first impression of the Rengebuji Temple Hassodo Hall.

Inside, too, the structure of tie beams and stout struts is left exposed and painted throughout, with real force (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The Rengebuji Temple Hassodo Hall stands on the hill north of the Kondo in the Rengebuji precinct, and its exterior can be seen within the grounds. No official information on interior access was found. Directions to the temple are given on the Rengebuji Temple page.