Shoboji Temple Storehouse: a two-storey kura with the temple crest
Shoboji Temple Storehouse (正法寺蔵) is a plastered storehouse in the precinct of Shoboji Temple in the Izumi district of Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, built in 1802 and made a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2011 under registration number 15-0338.
It stands between the main hall and the Gokoku storehouse with its ridge running east to west. The building is 5.5 m across the front and 4.5 m deep, with a floor area of 31 m², a two-storey Dozo-zukuri structure under a detached Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki tiles. It was repaired in 1897.
Registered for the scene it helps make
Shoboji Temple Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It is not a celebrated building in its own right; its value lies in standing beside the Gokoku storehouse along the approach and framing the view toward the main hall.
Two storehouses in one precinct is not an accident. The Gokoku storehouse of 1704 was built to hold scriptures, and Shoboji Temple Storehouse joined it roughly a century later, which suggests the temple had come to need separate space for its utensils and records.
A floating roof and torii-shaped openings
The first thing to grasp about Shoboji Temple Storehouse is the detached roof. A separate roof frame is set over the earth-walled box of the storehouse itself, so the two are structurally independent. Rain getting through the tiles does not soak the earth walls, and the roof can be relaid on its own. A slight gap between the top of the wall and the eaves gives the arrangement away from outside.
The openings repay attention too. A Geya on the north side of the ground floor shelters the entrance, and a window is cut into the south face of the upper floor. Both carry double doors finished in the kakeji manner, in which door and frame are stepped and plastered so that no straight path is left for flame or smoke when they are shut.
The walls are Shikkui plaster above a boarded lower section, and only the surrounds of the openings are modelled into the shape of a torii gate. Rather than settling for a plain rectangle, the builders framed each opening and set the temple crest above it. On a building type that usually stops at the purely practical, that is a deliberate mark of where it stands.
Visiting Shoboji Temple Storehouse
Shoboji Temple Storehouse stands on the eastern side of the approach, immediately north of the Gokoku storehouse, and the exterior is in plain view from the path. The entrance side, on the north of the ground floor, faces the main hall, so to see the sheltering roof and the double doors you need to walk up to the main hall and turn back.
The upper window, the better of the two openings, faces south toward the Gokoku storehouse. Looking up while walking the path brings the torii-shaped surround and the temple crest into view. Late in the day the contrast between white plaster and dark boarding is at its clearest.
The interior is not open. Anyone wanting to see inside Shoboji Temple Storehouse should contact the temple in advance on 0259-63-2032.
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Q&A
- When was Shoboji Temple Storehouse built?
- In 1802, with repairs carried out in 1897.
- What kind of building is Shoboji Temple Storehouse?
- A two-storey plastered storehouse, 5.5 m across the front and 4.5 m deep with a floor area of 31 m², under a detached gabled roof of pantiles.
- Can you go inside Shoboji Temple Storehouse?
- No. The interior is closed, though the exterior can be seen freely from the approach path.
- What should I look for at Shoboji Temple Storehouse?
- The openings, whose surrounds are modelled into the shape of a torii gate and carry the temple crest, along with the stepped double doors and the detached roof.
- Where is Shoboji Temple Storehouse in the precinct?
- Between the main hall and the Gokoku storehouse, on the eastern side of the approach, with its ridge running east to west.
Basic Information
| Name | Shoboji Temple Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 504 Izumiko, Sado City, Niigata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2011 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 5.5 m frontage, 4.5 m depth, floor area 31 m² |
| Owner | Religious Corporation Shoboji |
| Public Access | Exterior only |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Shoboji Temple Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008665
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties: Shoboji Temple (Sado City)
- https://www.city.sado.niigata.jp/site/bunkazai/4967.html
Last verified: 2026.09.13
