One Bell House, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2021
Kannonshoji Temple Bell Hall (観音正寺鐘堂, Kannonshoji Shodo) 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, tiled, with an area of 10 square metres. The date field reads early Showa and the year field 1928.
Sharing Its Structure with a Building at Another Temple
The assessment rests on agreement with a building elsewhere.
The Agency closes that it shares its structure with the bell tower at Enryakuji.
The reason does not stay within this temple, but reaches to a building at another.
At the Seianji guest hall, guest halls at two neighbouring temples were named. That comparison, however, served to date the building.
At the Ikinariya storehouse, the record noted that it was built at the same time as the detached guest room. That stays on one site.
Here agreement in structure with a building at another temple is itself the assessment. As a way of stating value this is the ninth met.
Octagonal Posts, Leaning Inward
Both the section of the posts and their inclination are recorded.
The Agency gives a gabled roof in formal tile, and a bell tower one bay square on octagonal posts set leaning inward.
One bay square means a square whose side is one bay. The posts are octagonal in section, and they lean inward from the vertical.
At the garden gate, both main posts and struts are square in section. The Shigeta main building runs 8 bays across and is fully 2-storeyed.
The Jizo hall has round posts carrying three-block brackets. Within one temple, octagonal, round and square posts are each used.
The record adds 2 square intermediate posts in each bay, tied to the main posts by a lower rail and 2 higher ties. Octagonal main posts are combined with square intermediate ones.
Even How the Bell Hangs Is Recorded
Not only the making of the building, but how the bell inside is hung.
The Agency records that bottle-shaped struts sit on the curved beams at each gable end, with a further curved beam thrown across inside them, and the bell hung from that.
The beams span the two ends of the building; struts rise from them; and a second beam between those struts carries the bell.
With the nine-storied pagoda, the structural field noted only a missing finial and said nothing of any interior. At the Jinkakuji main hall, the commentary field was empty.
With the Kumedera pagoda, the doors of the lower storey carry paintings and an image is enshrined within. Those are a painting and a figure.
Here what is recorded is the arrangement that holds an object up. A building of 10 square metres carries that much description.
Visiting
The bell house stands at Kinugasayama 2, Ishidera, Azuchi, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, owned by the temple.
Its position is recorded: at the southern edge of the precinct.
Its size is given as an area of 10 square metres. The water pavilion registered on the same day is likewise given an area, of 1.5 square metres.
The Jizo hall, the goma hall and the fuda hall, by contrast, are given floor areas. Structures without walls and halls enclosing a single room take different words.
Only the garden gate is measured by frontage, at 2.2 metres. The temple lies in the hills, and visiting follows its own arrangements. Check before travelling.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Shiga
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kannonshoji Temple Bell Hall
- [ Hikone Castle & Lake Biwa Cruise Experiences ]
Q&A
- When was the bell house registered?
- On 14 October 2021, as a registered tangible cultural property. It is registered rather than designated, and the quantity is one building.
- What is valued in it?
- That it shares its structure with the bell tower at Enryakuji. Agreement with a building at another temple is itself the reason given.
- What are the posts like?
- Octagonal in section and set leaning inward, on a plan one bay square.
- How is the bell hung?
- Bottle-shaped struts sit on the curved beams at each gable end, with a further beam thrown across inside them, and the bell hangs from that.
- Where does it stand?
- At the southern edge of the precinct. The temple sits on the same mountain as the Kuwanomidera main hall.
Basic Information
| Name | Kannonshoji Temple Bell Hall (観音正寺鐘堂, Kannonshoji Shodo) |
|---|---|
| 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, tiled, with an area of 10 square metres. Gabled in formal tile, a bell tower 1 bay square on 8-sided posts set leaning inward, with 2 square intermediate posts in each bay tied to the main posts by a lower rail and 2 higher ties. Bottle-shaped struts sit on the curved beams at each gable end, with a further beam thrown across inside them, and the bell hung from that. 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 bell house
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/587223
- Cultural Heritage Online: the Kannonshoji Jizo hall
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/592040
- 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: 2026.09.11
