Enryakuji Temple

What the "Enryakuji Temple" Designation Covers

Enryakuji Temple (延暦寺, Enryaku-ji) is the name of a single Important Cultural Property designation, made in 2016, that groups eleven Edo-period buildings of the Tendai head temple on Mount Hiei and at its foot in Sakamoto, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, among them the Monju-rō gate, the mausoleum of the founder Saichō and the hall of the monk Tenkai. What makes it unusual is its spread: the eleven structures are scattered across all three of the mountain's precincts, Tōdō, Saitō and Yokawa, and down in the temple town of Sakamoto.

Saichō founded Enryakuji in 788 as the headquarters of the Tendai school. His successors Ennin and Enchin expanded the mountaintop complex, and in 972 the abbot Ryōgen reorganised Yokawa, completing the three-precinct system that still defines the temple.

In 1571 Oda Nobunaga burned the mountain. Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave permission to rebuild in 1584, and from 1607 the monk Tenkai, based at the Nankō-bō in Tōdō, led the recovery, culminating in the new Konpon Chūdō of 1640. Tenkai died in 1643, but the work continued for another half century. The eleven buildings in this designation belong to that later phase, from the middle to the end of the seventeenth century.

The National Treasure Konpon Chūdō and several other halls were designated earlier, each under its own name. This 2016 designation gathered up the next layer of the rebuilding across the three precincts and Sakamoto. Nine of the eleven had already been protected by Shiga Prefecture before national designation.

The Eleven Buildings of Enryakuji Temple and Why They Matter

Tōdō: Monju-rō, Sannō Shrine and the Amida Hall Bell Tower

The Monju-rō is a two-storey gate standing on the rise east of the Konpon Chūdō, directly in front of it. It is a three-bay, single-opening gate with an irimoya roof sheathed in copper. Its origins go back to a meditation hall founded by Ennin in 866; the present structure was rebuilt after a fire in 1668. The upper storey holds an altar with an image of Monju (Manjushri), so the building is a hall as well as a gate. Outside, the frame is painted red, the ends of the upper brackets are picked out in white, and the bell-shaped katōmado windows are black lacquer.

The Sannō Shrine is said to have been the guardian shrine of the Jōshin-in, one of the nine temples Saichō planned for the mountain, and probably dates from 1649. It is a three-bay nagare-zukuri shrine whose front aisle is enclosed as an antechamber, a form common among shrine sanctuaries in Shiga. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it is the largest guardian shrine surviving within the temple.

The Amida Hall bell tower was built around 1634 in the grounds of the Tōshōgū shrine in Sakamoto, and moved up the mountain in 1963 along with the Tōshōgū's main Buddhist hall, which became the present Great Lecture Hall. Its posts lean slightly inward, a technique called uchikorobi, and its details closely match those of the Lecture Hall and the Tōshōgū at Hiyoshi Taisha.

Tōdō: the Three Buildings of the Jōdo-in

The Jōdo-in is Saichō's mausoleum. According to the temple, Ennin moved the founder's remains here in 854. It sits on a ridge between Tōdō and Saitō, its south-facing compound arranged with a worship hall, a gate and the mausoleum in a straight line.

The Mausoleum of Dengyō Daishi (Saichō's posthumous title) dates from 1662. It is three bays square with a pyramidal hōgyō-zukuri roof of copper, and its outer brackets are three-stepped mitesaki sets with tail rafters; between the corner rafters sit small carved monkeys. Posts and brackets are red, door frames black lacquer and window bars green, all worked in a dense Zen style. The Kara-mon gate in front was standing by 1666 and carries a carved unoke-dōshi pendant on its curved gable. The worship hall, also of 1662, is five bays by three under an irimoya roof. Inside, four long kōryō beams span the room so that no posts interrupt it. A frog-leg strut on the front gable is carved with a tiger among bamboo, and the inner faces of the shutters at the ends of the front and back carry lions painted by Kanō Einō.

Saitō: the Saitō Bell Tower

The Saitō bell tower is thought to date from the Jōkyō era (1684 to 1688). It is a one-bay, gabled structure roofed in copper, with auxiliary posts set inside the main ones, painted red with ink accents on the carved ornament.

Yokawa: Shiki Kōdō, the Worship Hall of Ganzan Daishi's Mausoleum and the Yokawa Bell Tower

The Shiki Kōdō is dedicated to Ryōgen, better known as Ganzan Daishi, and takes its name, "Hall of the Four Seasons' Lectures", from the Lotus Sutra lectures once given there each season. It is also called the Ganzan Daishi-dō. Built in 1652, it measures five bays by four under an irimoya roof. Its inner sanctum is lavish: lacquered posts painted with brocade patterns, dragons among clouds on the beams, phoenixes and celestial maidens on the wall panels, and gold-ground motifs in every square of the coffered ceiling.

The worship hall at Ganzan Daishi's mausoleum was probably built in the Enpō era (1673 to 1680). It is a plain hipped-roof prayer hall with a one-bay porch; behind it, the grave itself is enclosed by a stone fence, which, with a stone torii, is included in the designation. The Yokawa bell tower of 1687 matches the Saitō tower in size and form, but it is roofed in tiles and the carving on its beam ends differs.

Sakamoto: the Jigen-dō

The Jigen-dō honours Tenkai (posthumously Jigen Daishi), the man who rebuilt Mount Hiei, and stands southwest of the Shiga-in Monzeki in Sakamoto. Built in 1646, it is three bays square with a pyramidal tiled roof. The floor is stone, and in front of a rear screen wall a Zen-style altar holds a shrine with Tenkai's statue. Its posts and beams are unusually heavy, giving it a weighty, solid presence.

Why They Were Designated Together

The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the fact that these buildings mark the places that matter most to the temple's faith: the founder's grave, the mausoleum and lecture hall of Ryōgen, the hall of Tenkai, and the Monju-rō as both gate and training hall. All were put up in the later seventeenth century, following the rebuilding of the Konpon Chūdō, and together they show how the whole of Mount Hiei was restored in the early Edo period.

What to Look For Across the Mountain

In Tōdō, climb the steps from the front of the Konpon Chūdō to reach the Monju-rō. Look up and you will see the white bracket ends dotted along the red frame of the upper storey, with the black windows standing out. The Sannō Shrine faces east at the foot of the approach stairs, and its enclosed front room is easy to pick out.

The Jōdo-in lies on the ridge path from Tōdō to Saitō. Monks undertaking the twelve-year mountain retreat still attend Saichō here daily as though he were alive. From the approach you can see the gate, the worship hall and the pyramid roof and finial of the mausoleum lined up on one axis.

The Saitō and Yokawa bell towers make a good pair to compare. Saitō's is red with a copper roof, Yokawa's is roofed in tile, and that is the first difference you notice. Then look at the carving on the beam ends to see two carpenters' hands at work in the same decade.

In Yokawa, the temple presents the Shiki Kōdō as the birthplace of omikuji fortune slips, and it issues the Tsuno Daishi talisman against misfortune, a horned figure associated with Ryōgen. Down in Sakamoto, the Jigen-dō sits among the town's stone walls, a very different setting from the forest halls above.

Visiting: Where the Eleven Buildings Are

Ten of the eleven buildings are on the mountain: the Monju-rō, the Sannō Shrine and the Amida Hall bell tower in Tōdō; the three Jōdo-in buildings on the ridge between Tōdō and Saitō; the Saitō bell tower; and the Shiki Kōdō, the mausoleum worship hall and the bell tower at Yokawa. All can be seen from outside during each precinct's opening hours with the combined Tōdō, Saitō and Yokawa ticket.

The upper storey of the Monju-rō is not part of the normal visitor route; the temple has opened it as a special viewing on guided events. The Jōdo-in is attended daily by monks on the twelve-year retreat; for access beyond its gate and to hall interiors, follow the signs on site. The temple publishes no photography policy, so do the same for photos.

The Jigen-dō is at the foot of the mountain in Sakamoto, southwest of the Shiga-in Monzeki, and is visited separately. How to tour the three precincts, opening hours, tickets and access are covered on the Enryakuji page.