One Water Pavilion, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2021
Kannonshoji Temple Chozuya (観音正寺手水舎, Kannonshoji Temizusha) stands at Kinugasayama 2, Ishidera, Azuchi, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, a Showa-period structure entered on the register of tangible cultural properties on 14 October 2021. It is a registered property rather than a designated one.
The quantity is one building. The owner is the temple.
The structure is timber, roofed in copper sheet, with an area of 1.5 square metres. The date field reads early Showa and the year field 1928.
An Area of 1.5 Square Metres
This is the smallest structure met here.
The structural field gives timber, copper sheet roofing, and an area of 1.5 square metres.
The Kasuga Shrine moshiden covered 12 square metres, one bay across and one deep. That is small; this is about an eighth of it.
The former Shuseikan machinery factory covers 977.5 square metres and the Ikinariya storehouse 59 square metres.
This is two posts and a roof. The record notes 2 main posts with stone struts beside them, tied by a curved beam.
The Kaei bridge at Nishinomiya, at 6.0 metres, is the shortest bridge met here. This is the smallest building.
The Only Roof of Its Kind in the Group
The roofing material does not match the other buildings at this temple.
The structural field gives timber and sheet copper: a roof clad in copper plate.
The study, the Jizo hall, the goma hall, the fuda hall and the garden gate are all tiled, in pantiles. The bell house is tiled as well, in formal tile.
Only this one is roofed in copper. At an area of 1.5 square metres, the weight of tile may have been avoided, though the record gives no reason.
Among the buildings covered here, roofs of cypress bark, formal tile, pantile, thatch, thin shingle, thick split shingle and bamboo have appeared. Copper sheet joins them.
The form of the roof is gabled, as at the garden gate and the fuda hall. Only the material differs.
Bracketing and a Frog-Leg Strut, Small as It Is
A structure of two posts carries details belonging to temple architecture.
The Agency records 2 main posts with stone struts beside them, tied by a curved beam, with bracket arms on further struts supporting arms that carry the purlin.
Stone struts stand beside the main posts: timber posts steadied by stone.
The record continues with three-block brackets above the main posts and a frog-leg strut at the centre of the curved beam.
Three-block bracketing sets three blocks in a row; a frog-leg strut is a shaped member standing on a beam. The Jizo hall likewise carries three-block brackets, there on round posts.
A building of 1.5 square metres uses the same bracketing as the halls.
Visiting
The pavilion stands at Kinugasayama 2, Ishidera, Azuchi, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, owned by the temple.
Its position is recorded: it stands north of the garden gate, ridged north to south and facing west.
Of its making: gabled and roofed in copper sheet, with 2 main posts carrying stone struts and tied by a curved beam, brackets with struts supporting arms, and the arms carrying the purlin.
The record adds three-block brackets above the main posts and a frog-leg strut at the centre of the beam. Small as it is, it carries bracketing and a strut.
The assessment closes that it sets in order the historic setting of a pilgrimage temple. Setting in order, in those words, follows the registration criterion about contributing to the historic landscape. The temple lies in the hills, and visiting follows its own arrangements. Check before travelling.
Q&A
- When was the pavilion registered?
- On 14 October 2021, as a registered tangible cultural property. It is registered rather than designated, and the quantity is one building.
- How large is it?
- An area of 1.5 square metres. Two posts carry a roof, making it the smallest structure met here.
- Are other buildings registered here?
- Yes. The Jizo hall, the bell house, the garden gate, the goma hall, the fuda hall and the study were all registered on the same day.
- What is valued in it?
- The record closes that it sets in order the historic setting of a pilgrimage temple, following the registration criterion about contributing to the historic landscape.
- Where does it stand?
- North of the garden gate, ridged north to south and facing west. The temple sits on the same mountain as the Kuwanomidera main hall.
Basic Information
| Name | Kannonshoji Temple Chozuya (観音正寺手水舎, Kannonshoji Temizusha) |
|---|---|
| Location | Kinugasayama 2, Ishidera, Azuchi, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered tangible cultural property (structure, religious architecture); registered rather than designated; 7 buildings at the temple were registered on the same day |
| Year Designated | 2021 (14 October), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, roofed in copper sheet, with an area of 1.5 square metres. Gabled, with 2 main posts carrying stone struts and tied by a curved beam; brackets with struts support arms that carry the purlin. Three-block brackets sit above the main posts and a frog-leg strut at the centre of the beam. The date field reads early Showa and the year field 1928 |
| Owner | Kannonshoji |
| Public Access | Within the grounds of a temple in the hills; visiting follows its own arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the Kannonshoji water pavilion
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/520194
- Cultural Heritage Online: the Kannonshoji garden gate
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/553925
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
- Omihachiman City: cultural properties
- https://www.city.omihachiman.lg.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
