Jizoji Temple Hojuin Lavatory

A Guest Lavatory at the End of the Veranda

Jizoji Temple Hojuin Lavatory (地蔵寺寳珠院便所, Jizōji Hōjuin Benjo) is a small single-storey wooden guest lavatory built in the Taisho era (1912 to 1926) in Matsushima-cho, Komatsushima City, Tokushima Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016. It belongs to the formal reception room of the main house in the Hojuin residence owned by Jizoji Temple.

It adjoins the north end of the inner veranda that wraps the reception room, so a guest seated there could reach it along the veranda without stepping outside. Its footprint is 8.6 square metres, the smallest of the registered buildings at Hojuin.

The pan-tiled (Sangawara-buki) roof is gabled at the west end and hipped on the side toward the main house. The single small roof changes form from one end to the other so that it meets the main building smoothly.

Small, but Carefully Made

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the Jizoji Temple Hojuin Lavatory is small but elaborately designed, and registered it as a "model of form and design." A lavatory registered in its own right is unusual; the record explains why.

Inside, a decorative shelf stands beside the door, and part of the ceiling is finished in ajiro, thin strips of wood or bamboo woven on the diagonal, a finish much used in tea rooms and sukiya-style interiors.

The exterior is worked just as carefully. The small canopy on the south side is roofed in copper sheet over rafters of unbarked round logs. On the east and north, the lower walls are faced with rows of whole bamboo. These are the rustic, natural-material touches of sukiya design, gathered into a building of 8.6 square metres.

A lavatory set aside for visitors is itself evidence of a house built for entertaining. Added in the Taisho era to a main house of 1904, alongside the annex and the kamaya, it marks the stage when the residence was being refitted to receive guests in style.

What to Look For

Three things: the unbarked log rafters under the south canopy, the whole bamboo facing on the east and north walls, and inside, the woven ceiling and the decorative shelf. All are sukiya techniques, pitched to the standing of the reception room they serve.

Seeing the Lavatory

The Jizoji Temple Hojuin Lavatory is attached to the reception room of the main house, inside the walls. It is almost impossible to see from the road, and there are no scheduled openings. Contact Jizoji Temple in advance if you hope to see it.