Jodoji Temple Front Gate

About the Jodoji Temple Front Gate

The Jodoji Temple Front Gate (浄土寺表門, Jōdo-ji Omotemon) in Oji Nishimachi, Oita City, is a late Meiji-period four-legged gate standing before the Main Hall, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 23 October 2008.

The gate stands squarely in front of the Main Hall, its ridge running north to south. It is a Shikyakumon, a four-legged gate in which each of the two main pillars is braced front and back by a pair of auxiliary posts (Hikaebashira). The roof is a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) design in pan tiles (Sangawara-buki), and short flanking walls (Sodobei) extend to each side. The opening is 3.3 metres wide.

The national database dates it to the late Meiji period, with alterations in 1951 and a move to its present position in 1974. Oita City calls it the face of the temple.

Why It Was Registered

The Front Gate was registered in the 61st round on 23 October 2008 as number 44-0154, as a model of design.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs highlights its rich carved decoration of dragons, baku and Chinese lions. Oita City praises the carvings for their smooth, crisp curves and the whole gate for its high standard of carpentry. On an opening 3.3 metres wide the builders assembled the full vocabulary of a temple hall: projecting brackets, frog-leg struts, fan rafters and a coffered ceiling.

What to Look For

Tapered columns and one-step brackets

Both the main pillars and the auxiliary posts are round columns with tapered ends. At their tops sit bracket sets of the Degumi type, projecting one step from the wall plane, and between the columns the space is filled with Kaerumata, the splayed "frog-leg" struts of Japanese temple carpentry.

Fan rafters

The eaves are double-layered, and the rafters are laid out radially like the ribs of a folding fan (Ōgidaruki). Most Japanese gates and halls use parallel rafters, so the difference is obvious as soon as you look up. Inside the gate, the ceiling is coffered (Gō-tenjō).

Dragons, baku and lions

Carved dragons, baku and Chinese lions decorate the eaves. The baku, a long-snouted mythical beast said to eat bad dreams, is a common partner to lions in temple carving.

Flame-arched side walls

Each flanking wall is pierced by an opening with a flame-shaped top (Katōmado form) and fitted with a hinged door, carrying the gate's curved ornament out into the walls.

Visiting the Front Gate

The Jodoji Front Gate is the entrance to the grounds, and its exterior can be seen from the street in front. Stand under the gate and look up to see the carvings, the fan rafters and the coffered ceiling.

From the front of the gate, the east facade of the Main Hall lines up behind it. As of October 2026 no admission fee or gate hours had been published. During services and funerals people come and go through the gate, so avoid lingering beneath it.