Saikyoji Temple Upper Shoin

A Two-Storey Meiji Shoin Behind the Main Hall

Saikyoji Temple Upper Shoin (西教寺上書院, Saikyō-ji Kami-shoin) is a two-storey reception building of the mid-Meiji period (1883 to 1897) standing behind the main hall of Saikyoji in Saiwai, Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 7, 2014.

It is a 2-storey timber building with a footprint of 57 square metres and a hipped yosemune roof of pantiles. A corridor runs from the main hall directly to its upper floor. The building was altered during the Showa era (1926 to 1989).

In the Agency for Cultural Affairs record, the other ten registered structures share the lot number 2-250, while the Saikyoji Upper Shoin alone is listed at 2-252, apparently because it stands on a separate lot behind the main hall.

A Raised Room for Honoured Guests

The Saikyoji Temple Upper Shoin was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency describes it as a shoin fitted out for receiving people of high standing.

Each floor has two eight-mat rooms and a veranda. The most formal space is the inner room upstairs, a jodan-no-ma whose floor is raised a step and which is furnished with a tokonoma alcove and other formal fittings.

In the anteroom in front of it, a katomado window is cut into the wall of the alcove. Its pointed, flame-shaped top catches the eye just before a guest is shown into the raised room beyond.

What to Look For

What sets the Saikyoji Upper Shoin apart is the idea of taking guests upstairs. The corridor from the main hall straight to the upper floor suggests a route for leading visitors to the raised room after a service. Both floors have the same pair of eight-mat rooms, yet only the inner room upstairs was elevated in rank, a sign of how deliberately the temple prepared this place for guests.

From outside, the hipped pantile roof rises behind the great roof of the main hall. The main hall largely hides it from the front of the precinct, so shift your angle to pick out the overlapping roofs.

Visiting the Saikyoji Temple Upper Shoin

The Saikyoji Temple Upper Shoin stands behind the main hall, and official information says nothing about access to the interior. Contact the temple in advance if you would like to see it, and ask about photography as well. Directions are on the Saikyoji Temple (Izumi) page.