Saikyoji Temple Shin-zashiki

A Room of White Walls and Red-Oxide Posts

The Saikyoji Temple Shin-zashiki (西教寺新座敷, Saikyōji Shinzashiki) is a sukiya-style reception pavilion of the early Shōwa period, standing southwest behind the Guest Hall at Saikyoji in Sakamoto, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 28, 2001.

The national record lists a single-story timber building with a tile roof and a building area of 46 square meters. The ridge runs east to west, with a gabled east end and a hip-and-gable west end. It is registration number 25-0151.

Shin-zashiki means "new reception room": it is the newer of the two pavilions behind the Guest Hall, built in the Shōwa era, while the Kanrantei dates from late Meiji.

Why the Shin-zashiki Was Registered

The Saikyoji Temple Shin-zashiki was registered under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a simple, neat sukiya-style building.

Like the Kanrantei, it has an eight-mat room with alcove and shelves and a six-mat room with shelves. The plan is the same, but the finish is very different: white plaster walls inside and out, with posts and rails painted in red-oxide Bengara.

What to Look For

The color scheme is the heart of it, red-brown posts and rails against white walls. With the same two-room plan, it takes the opposite approach to the Kanrantei, which wraps everything in vermilion sand plaster.

Notice too that the roof changes form at each end, gabled to the east and hip-and-gable to the west, so the building looks different depending on where you stand.

Visiting the Shin-zashiki

The Saikyoji Temple Shin-zashiki stands behind the Guest Hall, and public access to its interior has not been confirmed. Opening hours, admission and directions for the temple are on the Saikyoji Temple page.