Myojuji Temple

Myojuji Temple

Myojuji Temple (妙壽寺, Myōju-ji) is a temple of the Honganji branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in Kanaya-machi, Bungotakada City, Oita Prefecture, said to have been founded by Kanaya Kyuki in 1531; five of its buildings, the main hall, sutra repository, bell tower, middle gate and main gate, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on March 27, 2018 (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Bungotakada City).

According to Bungotakada City, the temple was granted the name Myojuji in 1604. Its main hall, built in about 1902, is a familiar landmark in the centre of town.

The Layout of the Precinct

At Myojuji the main hall sits at the centre, with the sutra repository and bell tower in a line to its south, while the middle gate and main gate run from the front of the hall toward the municipal road to the northeast (Bungotakada City). The main hall faces east at the back of the precinct; the repository stands south of it and the bell tower to the southeast (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Coming in from the road, you pass through the street-side main gate and then the larger middle gate before reaching the front of the hall. Along this line the buildings get younger the further in you go: two Edo-period gates lead to a hall of the Meiji era.

The Five Registered Buildings

• Main hall: about 1902, single-storey timber, 764 square metres (registration number 44-225)
• Sutra repository: mid-Edo period (early 18th century), plastered storehouse construction with an octagonal revolving sutra case (44-226)
• Bell tower: 1761, one bay square under a hip-and-gable roof (44-227)
• Middle gate: late Edo period, a four-legged gate 4.5 metres wide (44-228)
• Main gate: mid-Edo period, a four-legged gate 3.5 metres wide (44-229)

All five Myojuji buildings were registered as models of design (Agency for Cultural Affairs). With them, the number of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in Bungotakada rose to 23 (Bungotakada City). Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting and Getting There

Myojuji is a working temple, and no official information on visiting hours or admission fees was found. For questions about the registered buildings, Bungotakada City lists its cultural properties office at the Matama branch office (tel. 0978-53-5112).

The nearest railway station is Usa on the JR Nippo Line. The city's tourism site says a Daiko Hokubu bus from the station reaches the Bungotakada bus terminal, the gateway to the Showa no Machi retro shopping streets, in about 10 minutes; a taxi from Usa Station also takes about 10 minutes. From Oita Airport, the North Liner airport bus runs to the Bungotakada bus terminal in about 50 minutes (Bungotakada City). Myojuji lies about 300 metres east of the bus terminal in a straight line.