What the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall Is
The Anrakuji Temple Main Hall (安楽寺本堂, Anrakuji Hondō) is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist hall in the temple quarter of Mima-cho, Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture, built in 1938 and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 7, 2009. It stands toward the western side of the precincts, facing south, and covers a building area of 517 square meters.
The roof is Irimoya-zukuri laid in Hongawarabuki. Seven bays wide across the front, the hall carries a ring of eave posts around its perimeter and pushes out a three-bay Kōhai at the center of the facade. It is a single-storey timber building, but the long run of the front means that from the approach path it fills the whole width of your view.
Temple tradition holds that the site began as Shinnyoji, a Tendai temple of the Heian period, and that in 1259 a warrior from eastern Japan named Chiba Hikotarō entered the temple and converted it to Jōdo Shinshū under the name Anrakuji. An Edo-period register of branch temples credits it with 84 subordinate temples: 21 in Awa, 50 in Sanuki, 5 in Iyo and 8 in Tosa. It ranks among the earliest Shin Buddhist foundations on Shikoku.
Why the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall Was Registered
The Agency for Cultural Affairs database records the registration criterion for the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall as a work that sets a standard of design, and describes it as an example of a large modern Shin Buddhist hall. Its register number is 36-0074. Together with the gate, bell tower and shoin listed on the same day, the principal buildings of the compound became Registered Tangible Cultural Property as a group.
A Shin Buddhist main hall divides sharply between the Naijin, the inner sanctuary where priests officiate, and the gejin, the outer hall where lay members sit. The Anrakuji Temple Main Hall follows that arrangement, with the outer hall, an intermediate yarai-no-ma and the inner sanctuary set one behind the other. What gives the building its character is the decision to build this early-modern plan in timber, in the twentieth century, at a scale of 517 square meters.
Put the four registered buildings side by side and the proportions become obvious. The shoin covers 94 square meters, the gate 41 and the bell tower 21. The Anrakuji Temple Main Hall accounts for 517.
What to Look For at the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall
Walk up the approach and the carving around the Kōhai is the first thing that registers. The Agency for Cultural Affairs entry singles out the porch and the Ranma transoms at the boundary between inner and outer halls as the places where carving is concentrated. Because the work runs across all three bays of the porch, shifting a few steps left or right changes how the shadows fall.
Inside, the matted floor of the outer hall opens in front of you, with the yarai-no-ma and then the Naijin beyond. The transom carvings sit slightly above eye level for anyone seated in the outer hall. Carving at the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall is therefore seen twice: once from outside, once from within.
Then look back at the roof. The Hongawarabuki pitch runs the full seven bays, and the row of eave posts around the building throws a long, narrow band of shade beneath the eaves. Since the hall faces south, the front changes character noticeably over the course of a day.
Visiting the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall
Anrakuji sits in the temple quarter of Mima-cho, and visitors can walk in from the approach path and stand in front of the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall. No published notice sets opening hours or an admission fee, so anyone hoping to see the interior should telephone the temple in advance on 0883-63-2015. On days when a memorial service is being held, the interior may be closed.
No posted notice prohibiting photography of the exterior from within the precincts could be confirmed. For photography inside the hall, ask at the temple office. During services it is better to put the camera away.
Getting there takes about ten minutes by taxi from Sadamitsu Station on the JR Tokushima Line, or about five minutes by car from the Mima interchange on the Tokushima Expressway. The Mima City tourism site lists parking for the temple quarter at Teramachi Nanmatsu-no-oka, with space for 30 cars. Local volunteer guides also show visitors around the temple quarter by prior arrangement; the contact number is 090-4336-8882.
Q&A
- Can you visit the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall, and is there an admission fee?
- You can enter the precincts and view the exterior. No published source sets opening hours or an admission charge for the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall, so call the temple on 0883-63-2015 in advance if you want to see the interior. Access may be restricted on days with memorial services.
- When was the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall built?
- In 1938. It is a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 517 square meters, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 7, 2009.
- What kind of cultural property is the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall?
- A Registered Tangible Cultural Property in the structures category, register number 36-0074, listed under the criterion of setting a standard of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as an example of a large modern Shin Buddhist hall.
- How do you get to the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall, and is there parking?
- About ten minutes by taxi from Sadamitsu Station on the JR Tokushima Line, or about five minutes by car from the Mima interchange on the Tokushima Expressway. The Mima City tourism site lists parking for 30 cars at Teramachi Nanmatsu-no-oka.
- What should you look at first at the Anrakuji Temple Main Hall?
- The carving around the three-bay porch, and the carved transoms at the boundary between the inner and outer halls. The tiled roof running the full seven bays and the row of eave posts beneath it are also worth a slow look.
Basic Information
| Name | Anrakuji Temple Main Hall |
|---|---|
| Location | 11 Miyanishi, Mima-cho, Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2009 (Heisei 21) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 517 square meters |
| Owner | Religious Corporation Anrakuji Temple |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable from the precincts; interior by prior arrangement |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Anrakuji Hondo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00007802
- Mima City Tourism Site: Anrakuji, Registered Tangible Cultural Property
- https://www.city.mima.lg.jp/kanko/map/list/4055.html
- Mima City Tourism Site: Teramachi, Anrakuji
- https://www.city.mima.lg.jp/kanko/map/list/11521.html
- Mima City Tourism Site: Teramachi Temple Quarter
- https://www.city.mima.lg.jp/kanko/map/list/11519.html
Last verified: 2026.09.09