Jodoji Temple North Gate

About the Jodoji Temple North Gate

The Jodoji Temple North Gate (浄土寺北門, Jōdo-ji Kitamon) in Oji Nishimachi, Oita City, is a four-legged gate built in 1925 on the northern edge of the temple grounds, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 23 October 2008.

The gate faces the street along the northern boundary of the grounds. Its ridge runs east to west under a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) roof of pan tiles (Sangawara-buki), with a pair of shachi, the mythical fish-tigers of castle roofs, at either end of the ridge. Flanking walls (Sodobei) on each side contain small wicket doors (Kugurido). The timber gate has a tiled roof and an opening 2.7 metres wide.

It is the youngest of the seven registered structures at Jodoji, and it was moved to its present position in 1974.

Why It Was Registered

The North Gate was registered in the 61st round on 23 October 2008 as number 44-0155, as a model of design.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out one detail: thin plate blocks set on top of the columns, with the head beam laid over them. Like the Front Gate, the North Gate is a Shikyakumon, but its roof and bracketing are entirely different, and it is this departure from the usual arrangement that the Agency records as distinctive.

What to Look For

Round main pillars, square braces

The two central pillars are round, while the auxiliary posts (Hikaebashira) front and back are square. At the Front Gate, by contrast, every post is round.

A plate block under the head beam

The daiwa is a thick horizontal beam tying the tops of the columns together, and normally it rests directly on the columns, with the brackets above it. At the Jodoji North Gate a thin plate block, the sarato, sits on the column top first, and the daiwa runs over that. This is what the Agency calls the gate's unusual specification: a narrow extra layer between column and beam that you can spot by looking up at the column heads.

Simple brackets and a decorated gable

The bracket sets are the simple three-block Mitsudo-gumi type. In the gable, a curved tie beam (Kōryō) carries a frog-leg strut (Kaerumata). The eaves are double-layered, with closely spaced rafters (Taruki).

A gabled roof with shachi

Instead of the Front Gate's hip-and-gable roof, the North Gate has a plain gable topped by shachi at each end, giving it a clean silhouette against the sky when seen from the street.

Visiting the North Gate

The Jodoji North Gate fronts the street on the north side of the grounds, so its exterior can be seen from the road. The plate blocks and head beam sit at the tops of the columns; stand close and look up to see them.

As of October 2026 there was no published information on when the North Gate is open. The gate opens directly onto the street, so keep clear of traffic when taking photographs.