Jissaiji Outer Wall and Stone Wall

An Earthen Wall and Stone Base Around Two Sides of the Precinct

Jissaiji Outer Wall and Stone Wall (実際寺外塀及び石垣, Jissai-ji Sotobei oyobi Ishigaki) is the roofed earthen wall and stone embankment enclosing the east and north sides of Jissaiji, a Shingon Buddhist temple in the Nakashima district of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture; it was built in the middle Meiji era, between 1883 and 1897, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on December 5, 2019.

The wall is timber-framed with a tiled roof and runs 61 metres. The stone embankment is 71 metres long. The two are registered together as a single item. Okayama Prefecture notes that both the east and north sides of the precinct border the road, and this is the structure that holds that edge.

Kurashiki City describes Jissaiji as a square temple ground built up on stone walls. Of that square outline, the two road-facing sides are the ones the wall and embankment give shape to.

Registered as the Edge of the Precinct

Jissaiji Outer Wall and Stone Wall carries registration number 33-0335 from the ninety-fourth round of registrations and was entered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the feature that finishes the outer edge of the precinct.

Walls and embankments are easy to overlook next to halls and gates. Yet from outside a temple, the boundary is what you see first, not the buildings. For someone walking the street, Jissaiji appears as a run of white earthen wall capped with tile over a band of stonework. The registration recognises that view from the outside.

Six structures at Jissaiji were registered on the same day, and this mid-Meiji wall is the youngest of them. Counting from the main hall of 1649, the precinct's perimeter took its present form fairly late in the temple's history.

Where the Wall Drops and the Stonework Changes

Jissaiji Outer Wall and Stone Wall looks continuous, but its construction changes along the way. Following the Agency's description, trace it from south to north and then east to west.

The wall begins at the northeast corner of the barn on the east side of the precinct. The stretch running north from there is an earthen wall with a Sangawara-buki tiled roof carried out on bracket arms. At the northeast corner of the site it turns west at a right angle, and along the north side it becomes a lower tiled tsuiji wall. The corner where the height drops is the easiest place to see the change.

The stone embankment uses two methods as well. The east face is Ranzumi, irregular stones fitted so that no joint runs straight through. The section under the barn and the whole north side are laid in Tanizumi, with stones set on the diagonal and dropped into the gaps between those below. The pattern shifts from one face to the next within a single embankment.

The wall is 61 metres long and the embankment 71, so the stonework runs 10 metres further. Since the embankment continues under the barn, where there is no wall on top, that section probably accounts for the difference.

Seeing Jissaiji Outer Wall and Stone Wall

Because Jissaiji Outer Wall and Stone Wall faces the road, it can be seen without entering the precinct. To take in the details in order, leave by the gate, walk north along the road on the east side, turn the northeast corner and head west along the north side. The random stonework of the east face, the drop in wall height at the corner and the diagonal stonework of the north side appear in that sequence.

Viewing is from the road, so watch for traffic. Please do not climb the stonework or handle the roof tiles. Okayama Prefecture lists access to the Jissaiji buildings as exterior only, and the temple has published no photography policy. The surrounding area is residential, so be considerate of neighbours when taking pictures. Directions to the temple are on the Jissaiji Temple page.