What the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall is
The Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall (方広寺禅堂), at Hokoji in the Okuyama district of Inasa-cho, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, was built in 1933 and entered the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 September 2019. It faces south below a bluff, east of the Imperial Lodging.
The hall is single-storey timber with a pantiled roof and a floor area of 105 square metres, hipped-and-gabled and entered from the gable end. A meditation hall is where monks sit in zazen, and this one wears the vocabulary of Zen style on the outside as well.
Matching doors front and back
Folding panelled doors stand at the centre of both the front and the rear wall, so the hall can be entered from either end, and cusped windows open on both sides of the front door.
Why the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall was registered
The criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country, and the registration number is 22-267.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs record places it as an ancillary building belonging to the standard make-up of a Rinzai monastery. What earns the entry is not display but the fact that it carries exactly the form a meditation hall requires, with nothing missing and nothing added.
The interior shows that. It is a single room with an earthen floor laid in square tiles set diagonally, an image of Bodhidharma on the ridge line, and raised matted platforms along both sides. The ceiling is a batten ceiling. The platforms are where the monks sit, leaving the centre of the hall as a passage with the seats ranged to left and right.
Meditation halls have kept that plan for centuries: the founding patriarch at the centre, the sitting places along the walls. Built in 1933, the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall does not depart from it.
What to look for at the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall
Start with the cusped windows on the front. Their heads rise and fall like flame, and they are among the clearest markers of Zen style. Set beside the folding panelled doors, they announce from outside what the building is for.
Note also that the hall is entered from its gable end, so the triangular face of the hipped-and-gabled roof turns toward you. The Main Hall uses the same roof type but presents its long side, and standing in front of each gives a very different impression.
The Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall sits below a bluff. Rock face and cedars press in behind it, walling off the rear. The site was chosen to cut out sound and sightlines, which is what a hall for sitting needs.
Visiting the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall
This is a hall for training. No notice of interior access is published, so ordinary viewing is from the outside.
Hokoji accepts bookings for zazen, sutra copying and weekend lodging. Which hall is used for sitting is worth confirming when you book.
The exterior is visible from the path that drops below the bluff on the east side of the Imperial Lodging. Walk round to the south for the gable-end front. Keep quiet if training is in progress. Directions and admission are covered on the Hokoji Temple page.
Q&A
- What kind of building is the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall?
- A hall where monks sit in zazen. Built in 1933, it is hipped-and-gabled with a pantiled roof, entered from the gable end, and covers 105 square metres.
- What is the interior of the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall like?
- A single room with an earthen floor of diagonally set tiles. An image of Bodhidharma stands on the ridge line, with raised matted platforms along both sides under a batten ceiling.
- What marks the exterior of the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall?
- Folding panelled doors at the centre of the front and rear walls, and cusped windows flanking the front door. Both belong to the Zen-style vocabulary.
- Can visitors sit zazen in the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall?
- No interior access is published. Hokoji does accept bookings for zazen and sutra copying, so ask which hall is used when you book.
- What cultural property status does the Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall hold?
- It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 September 2019, registration number 22-267, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.
Basic Information
| Name | Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall |
|---|---|
| Location | 1577-1 Okuyama, Inasa-cho, Hamana-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration number 22-267 |
| Year Designated | Registered on 10 September 2019 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, floor area 105 square metres |
| Owner | Hokoji Temple (religious corporation) |
| Public Access | A hall for training; no published interior access. Exterior visible from the path below the bluff |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Hokoji Temple Meditation Hall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00012917
- Daihonzan Hokoji: Grounds guide
- https://www.houkouji.or.jp/guide/
Last verified: 2026.09.17
