Saikyoji Temple Naishika Priests' Quarters

Where the Chief Abbot Lived

Saikyoji Temple Naishika Priests' Quarters (西教寺内司課庫裏, Saikyō-ji Naishika Kuri) is a single-storey timber residence of around 1930 at Saikyō-ji, the head temple of the Tendai Shinsei school in Sakamoto-honmachi, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on August 28, 2001.

At most Japanese temples the Kuri is the working house of the whole community, with its kitchen and the monks' living rooms. The Saikyoji Temple Naishika Priests' Quarters is something narrower: the private home of the kanchō, the chief abbot of the school, inside the Naishika section set aside for him. It stands northeast of the Shoin, directly east of the abbot's office, the Naishika Guest Hall.

The house has a hip-and-gable roof (Irimoya-zukuri) of interlocking pantiles, its ridge running north to south, and a building area of 44 square metres.

Why the Naishika Priests' Quarters Was Registered

The Saikyoji Temple Naishika Priests' Quarters was registered as a building that serves as a model of its type. Because it was a private house it is not large, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it was designed as one piece with the neighbouring office.

The plan divides cleanly by function. The sitting rooms are on the sunny south side, looking toward the same pond as the office, and the kitchen and bath are gathered on the north side. It is a plain, practical layout of the kind found in good houses of the period.

The triangular gable ends carry Kitsure-goshi, a fine lattice of crossed battens laid over boarding, which gives the roof a crisp, finished edge.

What to Notice

The interest lies in the pair. The abbot's office next door has a plain hipped roof, while the Saikyoji Temple Naishika Priests' Quarters has a hip-and-gable roof, so each building signals its role by its roof. Yet the depth of the eaves and the handling of the timber match, so the two read together.

The lattice gable belongs to the house alone, since a hipped roof has no gable to decorate. Seen side by side, that small triangle of latticework is the one decorative accent in the abbot's section.

Visiting the Naishika Priests' Quarters

The Saikyoji Temple Naishika Priests' Quarters was the chief abbot's residence and its interior is not open. The temple's heritage guide does not include it among its stops.

The house sits close to the temple's living areas, so respect any signs marking private ground and raise any request to visit with the temple directly.