Tenchuin Main Hall

A Zen Hall of 1828 among the Fields

The Tenchuin Main Hall (天仲院本堂) is a Rinzai Zen temple hall in the abbot's-quarters style of 1828 in Ijirino, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on June 9, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 200 square metres; registration number 33-0090.

A Hall in the Abbot's-Quarters Plan

The Tenchuin Main Hall faces south over farmland, about 14 metres wide under a round-tiled hip-and-gable roof, with square outer posts and boat-shaped brackets carrying the eaves (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Its plan has a broad veranda across the front and six rooms, with the formal room at the north-west corner, in the abbot's-quarters style; a ridge tag records its date (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency describes it as a good example of a late Edo-period Rinzai temple hall in the provinces, dated by its ridge tag, and registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the square posts with boat-shaped brackets and the broad front veranda (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Tenchuin Temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official visiting information was found.