Shoman-in Temple Pagoda

A Momoyama Pagoda at the Aizen Hall

The Shoman-in Temple Pagoda (勝鬘院塔婆) is a two-storey tahoto pagoda of 1597 in Yuhigaokacho, Tennoji Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on May 27, 1907 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a three-bay tahoto pagoda with a tiled roof, designated together with a bronze inscription plate; designation number 00392.

The 1907 date in the Agency record is that of its designation under the former law.

A Pagoda Said to Be Hideyoshi's Gift

The Shoman-in pagoda is a three-bay tahoto, a two-storey pagoda with a round upper body, roofed in tiles and dated 1597; it is designated together with a bronze inscription plate (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Osaka City Board of Education notes that it is said to have been donated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

According to the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, Shoman-in traces its origin to a dispensary that Prince Shotoku founded as one of the four institutions of Shitennoji, and is popularly called Aizendo after its main image, the wisdom king Aizen. The pagoda enshrines a seated wooden Daisho Kongo; its four pillars bear the 36 deities of the Diamond World mandala, nine to each, and the inner walls show the guardian deities of the eight directions, forming a three-dimensional mandala (Osaka City Board of Education).

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency record has no commentary; the structure and date set out what was designated. The Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau calls it a representative work of the Momoyama period.

What to Look For

Look at the two roofs of the pagoda and, inside, the deities of the Diamond World mandala on the pillars (Osaka City Board of Education).

Visiting

It is owned by Shoman-in Temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, the temple is open from 9:00 to 16:30, free of charge, a 2-minute walk from Shitennoji-mae Yuhigaoka Station on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line.