What the Founder's Image Hall Is
Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall is a Buddhist hall of 1878 standing west of the Daishi Hall on the northwestern side of the Tairyuji Temple precinct in Kamo-cho, Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture, and it was entered in the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties in 2013. It is a single-storey timber building roofed in copper sheet, with a building area of 16 square metres. In Japanese it is the Mieido, read mi-ei-do.
The plan is three bays across the front and two deep. The roof is a Hōgyō-zukuri pyramidal form gathering to a single point, with a veranda across the front and along the sides. The Daishi Hall in front serves as the worship hall; this building is the rear hall that holds the image, and the temple also calls it the mausoleum.
The Smallest of the Nine
At 16 square metres, Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall is the smallest of the nine registered buildings at the temple, roughly one sixtieth of the 944 square metres of the main priests' quarters. Even so, its plan is divided into three bays across and two deep. That means each bay is very short, and the tight column spacing sets the first impression of the building.
Small does not mean plain here. The columns are round rather than square, and each carries a Mitsudo-gumi bracket set. The eaves are double-layered with fan rafters, splaying outward towards the corners. Carrying that kind of joinery through at this scale says something about how the building was commissioned.
Inside, the space is divided front and rear into outer and inner sanctuaries, with a lacquered Urushi cabinet housing the image. Little of that is visible from outside, but the mismatch between the size of the hall and the labour spent on it is legible from the exterior alone.
Working as a Pair with the Daishi Hall
The Agency for Cultural Affairs treats Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall and the Daishi Hall together, calling the pair indispensable to the character of the precinct and noting the gravity of the setting they create. The value recognised is the arrangement of the two buildings in line, not the architecture of either alone.
Standing in the northwestern corner of the grounds bears this out. Behind the east-facing Daishi Hall waits the east-facing Founder's Image Hall. The front building has a hipped-and-gabled roof with gables stacked over the entrance; the rear building narrows to a single point. An ornate worship hall and a quiet, tightly drawn rear hall: the contrast between the two roof forms is what makes the pairing work.
The Daishi Hall dates from 1877, Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall from 1878. A single year apart suggests the two were planned together from the outset.
Seeing Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall
Because Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall stands behind the Daishi Hall, the positions offering a full frontal view are limited. Following the veranda of the Daishi Hall round to the west side gives the one spot where the pyramidal roof, the bracket sets and the fan rafters can be taken in together. A pyramidal roof reads better from an angle than square on, since the pitch of all four faces becomes visible at once.
On the twenty-first day of the third lunar month the mausoleum is opened for a service in memory of Kobo Daishi, and the temple says worshippers may take part inside. For other days there is no published guidance on entering, so do not count on seeing the lacquered cabinet. No notice on photography was found either.
Directions to the precinct, ropeway times and fares, and the general conditions for a visit are collected on the Tairyuji Temple page.
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Q&A
- How is the name of Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall read in Japanese?
- Tairyuji Mieido. The reading is given in the phonetic field of the Cultural Heritage Online record maintained by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
- How large is Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall?
- The building area is 16 square metres, the smallest of the nine registered buildings at the temple. The plan is three bays across and two deep, so each individual bay is unusually short.
- What is kept inside Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall?
- The interior is divided front and rear into outer and inner sanctuaries, with a lacquered cabinet holding the image. The temple describes it as the rear hall enshrining the image of Kobo Daishi and also calls it the mausoleum.
- What is the roof of Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall like?
- A pyramidal roof whose four faces meet at a single point. Round columns carry three-part bracket sets, and the eaves are double-layered with fan rafters.
- Can Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall be visited?
- The exterior can be seen from the grounds. The temple says worshippers may take part inside during the service held on the twenty-first day of the third lunar month; no guidance is published for other days.
Basic Information
| Name | Tairyuji Temple Founder's Image Hall |
|---|---|
| Location | Tatsuyama 1, Kamo-cho, Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2013 (Heisei 25) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, copper-sheet roof, building area 16 square metres |
| Owner | Tairyuji Religious Corporation |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable from the grounds; worshippers may take part inside during the lunar-calendar service |
References
- Tairyuji Mieido, National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009668
- Tairyuji Mieido, Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/206554
- Tairyuji, Temple 21 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage (official site)
- https://www.tairyuji21.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
