Menuma Shodenzan Kangiin Temple

The Precinct of Menuma Shodenzan

Menuma Shodenzan Kangiin Temple (妻沼聖天山歓喜院, Menuma Shōdenzan Kangi-in) is a Koyasan Shingon Buddhist temple in Menuma, Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, traditionally founded in 1179, whose Shodendo hall was designated a National Treasure in 2012 and whose Kisomon gate became an Important Cultural Property in 1984, while nine further structures, from the Niomon gate to the Komorido hall, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 May 2017. The address is 1511 Menuma.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the abbot Kaisan set out to rebuild the Shodendo in 1720, raising the money from ordinary worshippers, and the local carpenter Hayashi Hyogo Masakiyo built it. It is a gongen-zukuri complex of inner sanctuary, linking hall and worship hall, completed by 1760. Saitama Prefecture describes it as the only National Treasure building in the prefecture.

How the Precinct Is Laid Out

The Kisomon, the main gate, stands about 200 meters east of the Shodendo and faces east. Follow the approach inward and the Niomon gate rises directly in front of the Shodendo. Before the Niomon, slightly to the south, is the mizuya water pavilion, and south of that the Akaido well hall.

Northeast of the Shodendo is the Komorido, a lodging hall for worshippers who came to pray, with the bell tower to its west. Behind the Shodendo stand three small shrines, from north to south the Sanbo Kojin Shrine, the Gosha Daimyojin and the Tenmansha. On a rise in the northern part of the grounds stands the Peace Pagoda, a timber tahoto of 1958.

The nine registered structures range from the mid-Edo period to the mid-Showa era, so buildings of all three protection categories, National Treasure, Important Cultural Property and Registered Tangible Cultural Property, share the one precinct.

Visiting and Access

According to Saitama Prefecture, the precinct is always open and free to enter. Only the Shodendo charges admission, 700 yen, open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with last entry at 4:00 p.m.; Kumagaya City's guide map also gives entry from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Hours can change with the season and with temple events, so check the temple's notices before you go.

From the main exit of Kumagaya Station on the JR Takasaki Line and Chichibu Railway, take an Asahi Bus bound for Ota Station, Menuma Shoden-mae, Nishi-Koizumi Station or Nishi-Yajima and get off at Menuma Shoden-mae. Visitors coming by car can use the temple's parking.