Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate

A Two-Story Gate That Also Holds the Bell

The Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate (大山寺鐘楼門, Taisan-ji Shōrōmon) is a two-story gate of the late Edo period (1830 to 1868) at Taisanji Temple in Kamiita Town, Tokushima Prefecture, repaired in 1985 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on January 26, 2011, under registration number 36-0097.

A shoromon is a gate below with a bell tower, a Shōrō, above: the temple bell hangs in the upper story, over the passage. The Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate stands in front of the main hall but lower down, at the foot of a flight of stone steps, and faces east like the other buildings in the grounds. Worshippers pass through it and climb the steps to reach the main hall.

It is a two-story romon gate with a hip-and-gable roof, built in the three-bay, one-passage form: three bays across the front, with the central bay open as the way through. The roof is copper sheet, and the building area is 22 square meters. That makes it the smallest of the four registered buildings, but its two stories give it height.

Why the Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate Was Registered

The Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs ends its description by calling it a large, composed bell tower gate.

Its footprint is modest, but a gate of two stacked stories has real presence when you look up at it from the foot of the steps. It stands partway along the approach and marks the point where the climb arrives at the main hall.

Built in the last decades of the Edo period, it was repaired in 1985, the same year as the main hall and the Daishido Hall.

Rainbow Beam Below, Fan Rafters Above

On the lower story, a Kōryō spans the front and the intermediate posts are left out. A koryo is a beam with a gentle upward arch in the middle, and doing without the extra posts gives the gate a wide, open front.

The upper story changes character. Its posts are round, the bracket sets are Demitsudo, and the eaves have two layers of rafters laid out as Ōgidaruki, fanning out toward the corners like the ribs of a fan. Around all four sides stand renji, rows of slender vertical slats, instead of solid walls, so the upper story is left open, as suits a bell tower that has to let its sound out.

A veranda runs around the upper story, edged by a Kōran railing whose posts are capped with Giboshi finials. Seen from below, the finials and the fanned eaves overlap, and the upper story looks noticeably more ornate than the plain passage beneath.

Seeing the Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate

The Taisanji Temple Bell Tower Gate is in everyday use as a passage, and you can walk through it to the steps up to the main hall. For the whole gate, stand on its east side at the foot of the steps and look up: the rainbow beam of the lower story and the veranda and railing of the upper story come into view together.

The temple publishes no information on climbing to the upper story or ringing the bell. The gate is the way worshippers come and go, so when you stop to look, keep the steps and passage clear.