Kasuisai

Kasuisai

Kasuisai (可睡斎) in Kuno, Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, is a temple whose guest hall Zuiryukaku of 1937 and lavatory hall (tosu) of about the same year were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on December 19, 2014 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Both are owned by the temple.

The temple says it was founded in 1401 by the Zen master Jochu Tengin and has some 600 years of history; as the head shrine of the Akiba fire-prevention cult, it draws worshippers seeking protection from fire.

The Two Buildings

The Zuiryukaku is a two-storey hip-and-gable guest hall behind a cusped-gable porch, with a great hall upstairs ringed by a tatami corridor and rooms decorated, each on its own theme, with transoms and painted doors (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The tosu is a Zen lavatory about 8 metres square, with Ucchusma, the guardian deity of toilets, on a central dais under a wickerwork ceiling (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The temple calls it the best toilet in Japan. A hall for guests and a lavatory for a training temple, both of the late 1930s, stand side by side. Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

According to the temple, the interior can be visited from 8:00 to 16:30 for an offering of 700 yen; groups of 20 or more are guided by a trainee monk.