Kitain Temple

About Kitain Temple

Kitain Temple is a Tendai Buddhist temple at Kosenba-machi 1-chome, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, whose six Edo-period buildings, from the main gate of 1632 to the bell-tower gate of 1702 (the guest hall, study hall, priests' quarters, Jigendo, bell-tower gate and main gate), were designated an Important Cultural Property on November 29, 1946 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is also known as Kawagoe Daishi.

Three of the six, the guest hall, study hall and priests' quarters, are said to be buildings moved from the Momijiyama palace in the grounds of Edo Castle; the guest hall contains the room where the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu is said to have been born, and the study hall the dressing room of his nurse, Lady Kasuga (Kitain).

A Temple Rebuilt by Tenkai and Iemitsu

According to Kitain, the temple traces itself to Muryojuji, founded by the monk Ennin in 830. The priest Tenkai became its abbot in 1599, and after Tokugawa Ieyasu visited Kawagoe in 1611 the temple received lands and was renamed Kitain.

In January 1638 a great fire in Kawagoe destroyed almost every building except the main gate. Iemitsu ordered Hotta Masamori to rebuild at once, and halls from the Momijiyama palace of Edo Castle were moved here to serve as the guest hall and study hall. The Jigendo, the bell-tower gate and other buildings followed within a few years (Kitain).

The Six Designated Buildings

All six were designated an Important Cultural Property on November 29, 1946 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Kawagoe City notes that this listing was made under the pre-war law, and that they became Important Cultural Properties under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties on August 29, 1950.

• Guest hall (kyakuden), 1638. 8 bays by 5, hip-and-gable roof in wood shingles, with alcove, staggered shelves and a Buddha room; with a connecting corridor (1 building)
• Study hall (shoin), 1639. 6 bays by 5, hipped roof in wood shingles, partly with a mezzanine
• Priests' quarters (kuri), 1638. Main block 10 bays by 4, hip-and-gable at one end and hipped at the other, copper roof in imitation of tochi shingles; with entrance, entrance hall, corridor and connecting room (1 building)
• Jigendo, 1645. 3 bays by 3, pyramidal roof in hongawara tiles; with a shrine cabinet (1)
• Bell-tower gate (shoromon), 1702. 3 bays by 2, with a skirted lower storey, hip-and-gable roof in hongawara tiles; with a bronze bell (1)
• Main gate (sanmon), 1632. Four-legged gate, gabled roof in hongawara tiles; with a ridge tag (1)

Dates, forms and appurtenances follow the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.

What to Look For

The guest hall, study hall and priests' quarters can be visited inside. According to Kitain, you can see the room of Iemitsu's birth in the guest hall and the dressing room said to have been used by Lady Kasuga in the study hall, along with the Momijiyama garden viewed from the guest hall and the dry Kyokusui garden behind the study hall.

The main gate, which survived the fire, is the oldest building at Kitain. Kawagoe City describes it as a four-legged gate built by Tenkai in 1632; on the beams joining the rear posts sit two carved frog-leg struts, with a tiger on the front and Chinese lions on the back.

The Jigendo is dedicated to Tenkai, posthumously named Jigen Daishi; it was built on Iemitsu's orders and a wooden statue of Tenkai was placed in its shrine cabinet (Kitain). The bell-tower gate is a two-storey gate with a skirted base and the bell hung upstairs. Kitain notes a record of a gate built for the Toshogu shrine in 1633, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the present building to 1702.

Visiting and Getting There

According to Kitain, admission is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary and junior-high pupils (groups of 20 or more: 350 yen and 150 yen). From March 1 to November 23 the temple is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and until 4:50 p.m. on Sundays and holidays; from November 24 to the end of February it is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays and until 4:20 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. Entry closes 30 minutes before closing. The halls are closed to visitors from December 25 to January 8, on the afternoon of February 2 and on February 3, and from April 2 to 4, and may close on days with temple events.

The main gate is undergoing conservation work as part of the temple's 1,200th anniversary projects. As of June 2026, Kitain expected the work to run until around September of the following year, with passage through the gate restricted in the meantime.

Kitain gives the walk as about 20 minutes from Kawagoe Station (Tobu Tojo Line and JR), about 18 minutes from Kawagoeshi Station (Tobu Tojo Line) and about 15 minutes from Hon-Kawagoe Station (Seibu Shinjuku Line). The address is 1-20-1 Kosenba-machi, Kawagoe City.