Saikyoji Temple (Izumi)

A Shin Buddhist Temple at the Foot of the Shinodayama Hills

Saikyoji Temple (西教寺, Saikyō-ji) is a temple of the Honganji branch of Jodo Shinshu in Saiwai 2-chome, Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, where eleven structures, led by a main hall raised in 1808, were listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 7, 2014. Its mountain name is Anokusan, and its head temple is Nishi Honganji in Kyoto.

The temple's own history cites a 1698 register of local temples and shrines. It records that Saikyoji's grounds were already exempt from land tax at the time of the 1594 land survey, which places its origins earlier still. It began as a village hall for nembutsu practice, received the head temple's permission to enshrine a wooden image of Amida in 1664, and adopted the name Saikyoji in 1670.

A main hall went up in 1673, the year that Osaka Prefecture, in its note on the temple's juniper, gives as the traditional founding date. The present main hall replaced it in 1808.

The temple first stood in a valley of the Shinodayama hills. Izumi City's heritage guide says it moved to its present site in 1698 together with the villagers it served. Saikyoji also keeps a story from 1860: one of the masterless Mito samurai involved in the assassination outside Edo Castle's Sakurada Gate is said to have hidden here and taught reading and writing to local children.

How the Precinct Is Laid Out

Saikyoji faces east. Granite gateposts and an iron fence line the front street, and behind them rises the Great Gate, a Yakuimon-style gate flanked by earthen tsuiji walls. South of it the bell tower stands on a tall stone base, and the East Gate closes the frontage at its southern end.

Through the Great Gate lies the garden before the main hall, with the chozuya water pavilion toward the southeast and the sutra repository toward the north. The main hall fills the back of the garden. The Shikidai Entrance and Shoin is joined to its left side, and the two-storey Upper Shoin stands behind it. The drum tower holds the northeast corner, and the North Gate opens on the north side between the drum tower and the sutra repository. In the front garden, a Chinese juniper (ibuki) designated a Natural Monument by Osaka Prefecture spreads its branches.

A suggested route: start at the gateposts to take in the frontage, pass through the Great Gate to the juniper, the chozuya and the sutra repository, then stand before the main hall. Look at the shikidai entrance on its left, view the East Gate from inside, and walk around the bell tower's stone base. Finish outside on the north street, where the drum tower, the North Gate, the sutra repository and the main-hall roof overlap along the road.

Saikyoji's Registered Buildings

All eleven structures were registered on October 7, 2014, and they span the late Edo period to the mid-Showa period. In order of construction: the main hall (1808), the chozuya (around 1816), the Shikidai Entrance and Shoin (1859), the Upper Shoin (mid-Meiji), the sutra repository (around 1891), the gateposts and iron fence (1898), the bell tower (around 1899), the Great Gate with its tsuiji walls and the East Gate (both late Meiji), the North Gate (early Showa) and the drum tower (1962). Each was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

Osaka Bunkazai Navi, a heritage guide run by the Osaka architects' association and allied groups, observes that Saikyoji is small yet has a set of buildings to rival a regional headquarters temple, and that it preserves the look of a Jodo Shinshu precinct of the late Edo to mid-Meiji periods remarkably well. Each building has its own page describing its history and details.

The juniper in front of the main hall was designated by Osaka Prefecture on November 24, 1993. The prefecture gives its height as about 10 metres and its trunk girth as about 3 metres, and believes it was growing here before the temple was founded. The temple estimates its age at more than 500 years.

Visiting and Getting There

Saikyoji is a working temple that holds memorial services and community events, and its website lists no visiting hours or admission fee. Osaka Bunkazai Navi advises contacting the temple before a visit. If you want to see inside a building, or are coming as a group, call ahead (0725-41-0948). The temple notes that a ramp leads up into the main hall and chairs are provided. Ask about photography as well.

The nearest station is Shinodayama on the JR Hanwa Line. The temple puts the walk at 10 minutes, and Osaka Prefecture describes it as about 900 metres to the northeast. The temple's postal address is 2-8-22 Saiwai, Izumi; the 2-250 in the Agency for Cultural Affairs record is a land-registry lot number. Official information does not mention parking, so check with the temple before driving.

Name and Spelling

The name is read Saikyōji. This temple has no connection with the Saikyoji in Sakamoto, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, head temple of the Tendai Shinsei school, so this site adds the city: Saikyoji Temple (Izumi). The registered buildings carry the temple name first, as in Saikyoji Temple Main Hall.