What the Hexagonal Scripture Repository Is
Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository is a sutra repository of 1856 standing on the eastern 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 35 square metres, and the official registration adds that it contains a revolving sutra case.
A repository of this kind holds scripture, and what is held here is a complete Buddhist canon printed from woodblocks. The ropeway operator's account records that an earlier canon, donated by the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu, was lost to fire, and that both the present canon and the present building date from 1856.
A Hexagonal Shell Around an Octagonal Case
The plan of Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository is a hexagon. The revolving case set inside it, however, is an octagon. Shell and rotating core do not share a number of sides, and that mismatch is the most interesting thing about the building.
A revolving sutra case is a rack of scripture mounted on a central axle. Pushing it through one full turn has long been held to earn the same merit as reading the whole canon. The octagonal case here is worked in the Zenshūyō manner, framed with double-layered fan rafters, painted in strong polychrome and studded with decorative metal fittings.
The hexagonal shell is carried on a pentagonal column at each corner. The interior angle of a hexagon is 120 degrees, so two wall planes meet obtusely. A square post would sit badly at that junction, and cutting the section as a pentagon lets one column receive both walls cleanly. Standing close to any one column makes the solution visible.
Late Edo Colour, Still in Place
The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the interior of Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository, describing a space adorned in the ornate manner of the closing years of the Edo period. The exterior gives little of this away: plain vertical boarding to waist height, with shelving projecting on three sides at the rear. The gap between what the outside offers and what the inside holds is wide.
The year 1856 sits at the threshold of the late Edo period. Four of the nine registered buildings at the temple are Edo-period work, the Nio Gate, the main hall, the two-storied pagoda and this repository, and among them only Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository carries interior decoration of this intensity.
That painted timber and metalwork have survived since the 1850s in the damp air of a mountain summit is itself part of the case for registration.
Seeing Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository
Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository faces west on the eastern side of the grounds, so walking in from the Nio Gate it appears on the right. The exterior can be seen freely, and a hexagonal plan reads better from an angle than square on, because the run of corners becomes visible. To check the pentagonal columns, come close enough to stand at a point where two wall planes meet.
The octagonal case and its colouring are inside and cannot be seen from without. No opening of the interior is published, so whether the case can be seen or turned is a question for the temple on the day. No notice on photography was found.
Standing on the approach path, the building is naturally seen together with the goma hall and the main priests' quarters as one sweep along the eastern side. Directions to the precinct and the general conditions for a visit are collected on the Tairyuji Temple page.
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Q&A
- What is kept in Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository?
- A complete Buddhist canon printed from woodblocks. The ropeway operator's account records that an earlier canon donated by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu was lost to fire, and that the present canon and building both date from 1856.
- What is the revolving case in Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository?
- A rack of scripture mounted on a central axle. Turning it once has long been held to earn the merit of reading the entire canon. This one is octagonal, worked in the Zen style, painted in strong polychrome and set with decorative metal fittings.
- Why is Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository six-sided when the case inside is eight-sided?
- The shell is a hexagon and the rotating core an octagon. The record of the Agency for Cultural Affairs sets out both shapes but does not explain why the numbers differ.
- Can the interior of Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository be visited?
- No opening of the interior is published. The exterior can be seen freely from the grounds. Ask at the temple about access on the day.
- How old is Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository?
- It dates from 1856 and was entered in the register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 21 June 2013. The building area is 35 square metres.
Basic Information
| Name | Tairyuji Temple Hexagonal Scripture Repository |
|---|---|
| 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 35 square metres, with revolving sutra case |
| Owner | Tairyuji Religious Corporation |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable from the grounds; no opening of the interior is published |
References
- Tairyuji Hexagonal Scripture Repository, National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009671
- Tairyuji, Temple 21 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage (official site)
- https://www.tairyuji21.jp/
- About the Tairyuji Ropeway, Shikoku Cable Co., Ltd.
- https://www.shikoku-cable.co.jp/tairyuji/outline/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
