Zojuin Temple Maikomi Well

A Spiral Path Down to a Temple Well

The Zojuin Temple Maikomi Well (蔵珠院まい込み泉) is a temple well reached by a spiral path of the late Edo period in Kokufucho Shibahara, Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 14, 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a stone structure 6 metres across and 4.3 metres deep, repaired around 1975 and in 2020; registration number 36-0214.

A Funnel-Shaped Pit with a Spiral Path

The Zojuin Temple Maikomi Well is a temple well with a path down to it, on the plain on the right bank of the Yoshino River (Agency for Cultural Affairs). In front of the main hall, a funnel-shaped pit about 6 metres across at the top and about 3 metres deep holds a spiral path, with a well curb about 0.8 metres across set in the bottom.

The walls of the pit are built of slabs of split crystalline schist (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes it as a rare type of well, well loved locally, and registered it as difficult to reproduce.

What to Look For

Look for the spiral path winding down to the bottom of the pit and the walls of stacked schist slabs (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Zojuin Temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official visiting information was found. The Maikomi Well and the tea house are introduced together on the Zojuin Temple page.