Jissaiji Barn

A Two-Storey Barn Beside the Gate

Jissaiji Barn (実際寺納屋, Jissai-ji Naya) is a two-storey timber utility building on the east side of the precinct of Jissaiji, a Shingon Buddhist temple in the Nakashima district of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture; it is said to date from around 1884 and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on December 5, 2019.

The barn stands toward the south end of the precinct's east edge, right on the site boundary, and faces west. Okayama Prefecture describes it as standing side by side with the gate, so it is the first building on your right as you walk in. It runs five bays north to south and two bays deep, with a building area of 46 square metres. The ground floor is divided into three rooms with beaten-earth Doma floors, the upper floor into two boarded rooms.

A temple naya is a working building, generally used to store tools, firewood and harvested produce. It is not a place of ritual like the main hall or guest hall, and it is telling that Jissaiji's registration includes this side of temple life alongside its halls of worship.

Jissaiji Barn and the First View of the Precinct

Jissaiji Barn carries registration number 33-0333 from the ninety-fourth round of registrations, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs closes its description by saying that the barn shapes the view at the entrance to the precinct.

That entrance view is what you see in the first few steps past the gate. To the right of the gate rises a two-storey building of white plaster and dark boarding, with the main hall and bell tower beyond it. The registration reads as recognition of the part the barn plays in that opening scene.

The barn also has a place in local memory. KSB, the regional broadcaster, reported that it served as an evacuation shelter during the flood of 1893, less than ten years after it was built. In a village on the low ground of the lower Takahashi River, a building with an upper floor was probably just what was needed.

Hipped at One End, Gabled at the Other

The two ends of the Jissaiji Barn roof are different. According to the Agency, the south end is finished in Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable form and the north end as a plain Kirizuma-zukuri gable, with the whole roof and the lean-to Geya along the west face laid in Hongawarabuki tile. Giving the higher-ranking hipped form only to the south end, the one nearest the gate and first seen on entering, looks like a deliberate choice. The north end, deeper in the precinct, is closed off simply.

The wall finish is worth a close look as well. The walls are plastered in Shikkui lime over the posts, and the outside is clad in vertical boards of yakiita, cedar charred on the surface. Charring makes the boards resistant to rain and insects, and it is common across the Setouchi region. White plaster over black boards is what gives the barn its look.

Look down at its footing too. The record for the neighbouring outer wall and stone embankment notes that the stonework under Jissaiji Barn is laid in the diagonal Tanizumi pattern. The wall runs north from the barn's northeast corner, so the barn itself forms part of the precinct's eastern enclosure.

Seeing Jissaiji Barn

The main face of Jissaiji Barn is the west side, seen from inside the precinct just to the right of the gate. Step round to the south end and you can frame the hipped gable next to the gate. Compare it with the gable at the north end to see how the two ends were treated differently.

The interior is not open. Okayama Prefecture lists access to the Jissaiji buildings as exterior only, so please do not look in through doors or windows or step under the lean-to roof. The temple has published no photography policy, and it is courteous to ask before taking pictures. Directions to the temple are on the Jissaiji Temple page.