Registered Tangible Cultural Properties · Shizuoka

Hokoji Temple Main Gate

Hokoji Temple Main Gate: A Two-Storey Gate Rebuilt in 1953

Rebuilt in 1953 on the approach path at Hokoji Temple in Hamamatsu, this two-storey gate carries bracketing that changes between its lower and upper levels.

Designation Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

Location Shizuoka

What the Hokoji Temple Main Gate is

The Hokoji Temple Main Gate (方広寺山門), at Hokoji in the Okuyama district of Inasa-cho, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, was rebuilt in 1953 and entered the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 September 2019. It faces south from a point on the approach path that runs beside the stream, south-east of the Main Hall.

The gate is two storeys of timber roofed with round-and-flat tiles, covering 34 square metres, under an hipped-and-gabled roof. It is three bays wide with a single opening, which means the front is divided by columns into three and only the middle bay is a passage, and both storeys carry a full roof. Its vermilion finish has earned it the local name of the red gate.

The newest of the registered buildings

Of the twenty-two registered buildings at Hokoji, the Main Gate of 1953 is the youngest. The other twenty-one went up between the middle Meiji years and the years before the war; this gate alone belongs to the post-war years.

Why the Hokoji Temple Main Gate was registered

The criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country, and the registration number is 22-279.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs record calls the workmanship precise and says the gate forms the formal face of a head monastery. What carries that judgement is the way the bracket sets change between levels. The lower storey uses a single projecting step, the upper a double step with tail rafters, so the reach of the eaves grows as the eye rises. On a two-storey gate that difference makes the upper level appear to lean forward.

Square strut blocks fill the spaces between brackets, except in the central bay, where paired blocks are used instead. Changing the member over the passage marks out the middle of the gate. The gables carry a beam and a bottle-shaped strut, and the eaves have double rows of closely spaced rafters.

The Hamamatsu tourism authority records that the gate was rebuilt in 1953 under the abbot Ashikaga Shizan.

What to look for at the Hokoji Temple Main Gate

Coming up the path, take the front view first. Only the middle of the three bays opens as a passage; the two flanking bays are closed. It is the presence of those closed bays that makes the single opening read as the centre of the gate.

Then step underneath and look up. The lower brackets crowd overhead, carrying the floor of the storey above. For the few paces it takes to pass through, the bracketing is within arm's reach.

Once through, turn back and find the paired blocks over the central bay. The flanking bays use a single upright block; the centre uses two set side by side. Seen together the difference is obvious, and it is the one place where the Hokoji Temple Main Gate varies its rhythm.

Visiting the Hokoji Temple Main Gate

The Hokoji Temple Main Gate stands directly on the approach, so every visitor passes beneath it. There is no restriction on the passage and the brackets can be studied at close range. The upper storey is not accessible.

To photograph the vermilion, stand back a little on the path to the south and look up: the red against the green of the cedars is at its strongest from there. Photography is unrestricted.

The Outer Gate marks the entrance to the approach further south, and the climb between the two gates is continuous. Directions and admission are covered on the Hokoji Temple page.

Q&A

QWhen was the Hokoji Temple Main Gate built?: AIn 1953. It is the youngest of the twenty-two registered buildings at Hokoji.

QWhat does a three-bay gate with a single opening mean?: AThe front is divided by columns into three bays and only the middle one serves as a passage. Both storeys of this gate carry a full roof.

QWhat should visitors look at in the Hokoji Temple Main Gate?: AThe change in bracketing between levels: a single projecting step below, a double step with tail rafters above. The paired blocks over the central bay differ from the single blocks used elsewhere.

QWhy is the Hokoji Temple Main Gate called the red gate?: ABecause of its vermilion finish. The Outer Gate at the foot of the approach is known in the same way as the black gate.

QWhat cultural property status does the Hokoji Temple Main Gate hold?: AIt became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 September 2019, registration number 22-279, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

Basic Information

Name	Hokoji Temple Main Gate
Location	1577-1 Okuyama, Inasa-cho, Hamana-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Designation	Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration number 22-279
Year Designated	Registered on 10 September 2019
Quantity	1 building
Dimensions	Two-storey timber building, tiled roof, floor area 34 square metres
Owner	Hokoji Temple (religious corporation)
Public Access	Freely passed on the approach path; upper storey closed. Photography permitted

References

National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Hokoji Temple Main Gate: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00012929