Jizoji Temple Hojuin

A Temple-Owned Residence in the Old Port Town of Komatsushima

Jizoji Temple Hojuin (地蔵寺寳珠院, Jizōji Hōjuin) is a group of residential buildings in Matsushima-cho, Komatsushima City, Tokushima Prefecture, owned by Jizoji Temple; its storehouse of 1903, main house of 1904 and outbuildings, gates and walls of the Taisho era (1912 to 1926) were entered together, eight properties in all, as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 29 November 2016.

The owner is Jizoji, a temple of the Daikakuji branch of Shingon Buddhism, and the Hojuin site lies right next to it. The name is a temple name, but the national record files all eight properties under "residence." Nothing here was built as a worship hall or priests' quarters. This was a house: somewhere to live, to receive guests and to keep family goods safe.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs opens its entry on the main house by placing it in the town center of Komatsushima, which prospered as the outer port of Tokushima. Someone in that port town built a large, two-storey, tile-roofed house here at the end of the Meiji era. That is as far as the public record goes. The official sources consulted for this page do not name the family who built it, or say when and how the property passed to the temple.

Eight Registrations, and the Order in Which the House Grew

The eight properties carry consecutive registration numbers, 36-0133 through 36-0140, and were registered on the same day. Five are buildings: the main house, the kamaya (kitchen house), the annex, the storehouse and a guest lavatory. Three are structures: the front gate and wall, the middle gate and wall, and the west wall.

They were registered under two different criteria. The main house, kamaya, annex, lavatory and front gate and wall were judged to be "models of form and design." The storehouse, middle gate and wall, and west wall were registered for "contributing to the historic landscape of the country." One set is valued for its design, the other for the way it shapes the edges of the property and the street.

Put the dates in order and the history of the household comes into view. The storehouse went up first, in 1903, and the main house followed in 1904. The kamaya, annex, lavatory and all three gate-and-wall structures are dated to the Taisho era. The official descriptions call the kamaya a separation of the functions of the main house's earthen-floored work area, and the annex evidence of the house expanding its living space. A late-Meiji family home was extended over the Taisho years by moving the kitchen, a private guest room and the washrooms into separate buildings, and the eight registrations record each step.

How the Compound Is Laid Out

The front gate and wall mark the south edge of the site, with a wall running 34 metres in total. Along the west edge stands a white plastered earthen wall 3.6 metres high and 25 metres long; its north end meets the southwest corner of the storehouse, which occupies the northwest corner of the lot. On the south and west, then, wall and storehouse together form an almost unbroken enclosure.

The main house sits in the middle of the lot and faces south, with its formal reception room in the southwest corner overlooking the garden. From beside its entrance the middle gate and wall run due south to meet the front wall, dividing the ground inside the front gate into an approach to the entrance and a private inner garden.

The kamaya stands to the east, almost touching the main house. The annex sits behind it toward the east, reached from the main house's inner veranda. At the north end of the veranda outside the reception room is the guest lavatory, and a veranda on the south side of the storehouse links it to the annex and the main house. Read the compound as one dwelling: a main house with outbuildings strung along its verandas.

From the street, the order of viewing is simple. Start with the front gate and wall on the south, then walk to the long white west wall. These two face outward and help set the character of the neighborhood. The middle gate, main house and outbuildings are all inside the walls; from outside you see little more than overlapping roofs.

Visiting Jizoji Temple Hojuin

The nearest station is Minami-Komatsushima on the JR Mugi Line. The site is about a 7-minute walk north through the town center. It is right next to Jizoji Temple, which makes a good landmark.

All eight properties belong to a working temple and form a private residence. No regular opening days or admission fees for Jizoji Temple Hojuin appear in official information from the temple or from Komatsushima City. If you hope to go inside the gate or see the interiors, contact Jizoji in advance, and do not enter the grounds uninvited.

The front gate and wall and the west wall can be seen from the road. Take photographs from the public street, without blocking traffic or pointing lenses at neighboring homes.

The adjoining temple has its own Tokushima Prefecture designated properties, among them an entrance hall and study hall said to have been moved from the residence of the Hirajima Kubo, a branch of the Ashikaga shogun family. They belong to the same owner but are a separate group of buildings from the Hojuin residence.