A research institute and its 1930 guest complex
The Konkokyo Research Institute (金光教教学研究所, Konkōkyō Kyōgaku Kenkyūsho) is the research body of the Konkōkyō faith, opened on 1 November 1954 on the Yūzakiyama hills in Otani, Konkō-chō, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture. Its grounds keep three buildings erected in 1930 as a guest reception complex, and all three were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 2 November 2018.
Otani grew up as the gate town of the Konkōkyō headquarters and still has a good stock of modern buildings from the Meiji era onward. The institute's hill lies at the southern edge of town, just south of the tunnel that carries National Route 2.
The institute studies the faith's founder, doctrine and history. The registered buildings are older than the institute itself: they were built to receive guests, and the research body later inherited them.
How the three buildings fit together
The buildings frame a forecourt. The Japanese-style guest hall stands in the middle of the site facing west; in front of it, the entrance annex stands to the north and the two-storey Western-style building to the south. Covered corridors run east and south from the annex's south-east corner to reach the other two.
The annex doubled as the guest hall's front door and held waiting rooms and a kitchen. Visitors were received there and led along the corridors, either to the low Japanese hall or to the towered Western block, a pairing typical of prestigious reception facilities in the early Shōwa period.
The registration criteria differ. The guest hall was listed as a model of design, while the annex and the Western-style building were listed as contributors to the historic landscape. All three date from 1930 and were planned as one, corridors included.
Visiting and access
None of the three buildings is open to the public. Okayama Prefecture lists them as closed, and the grounds cannot be entered. The research institute still works here, so anyone with a genuine reason to visit should contact Konkōkyō in advance.
For orientation, the prefecture gives the site as about 5 minutes by car from the south exit of JR Konkō Station on the Sanyō Line, or about 20 minutes on foot from the north exit.
Exterior photographs of all three buildings are posted on the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and on Asakuchi City's website.
References
- Konkokyo Research Institute Guest Hall | Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012639
- Konkokyo Research Institute Guest Hall Annex | Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012640
- Konkokyo Research Institute Western-Style Building | Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012641
- Registration of the Konkokyo Research Institute buildings | Asakuchi City
- https://www.city.asakuchi.lg.jp/page/1990.html
- Konkokyo Research Institute Guest Hall, Annex and Western-Style Building (cultural property sheet) | Okayama Prefecture
- https://www.pref.okayama.jp/uploaded/attachment/258730.pdf
- Facilities of the Konkokyo Headquarters | Konkokyo official site
- https://www.konkokyo.jp/headquarters/facilities/
- About the institute | Konkokyo Research Institute
- https://kyogaku.konkokyo.jp/establishment.html
Last verified: 2026.09.24
