Gokokuji Temple

Gokokuji Temple

Gokokuji Temple (護国寺) in Otsuka, Bunkyo City, Tokyo, has a main hall of 1697 and a Momoyama-period reception hall, the Gekkoden, designated as an Important Cultural Property on January 19, 1931 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). That date is the date of designation under the former law.

According to the Bunkyo City tourist guide, Gokokuji was founded in 1681 by the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, at the wish of his mother Keishoin. The principal image, a Nyoirin Kannon that was Keishoin's personal devotional figure, is kept hidden, and a stand-in image is shown on the temple fair day, the 18th of each month.

The Two Buildings

The main hall, a Kannon hall built on Tsunayoshi's orders in 1697, is seven bays square with a copper hip-and-gable roof and a three-bay porch (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Bunkyo City). Inside, visitors can see the plaque reading Shitchiin in Tsunayoshi's own hand and statues including thirty-three forms of Kannon.

The Gekkoden was originally the reception hall of Nikkoin, a sub-temple of Miidera (Onjoji), in the shoin style of the Momoyama period (Bunkyo City). After serving as the Keichokan of the Hara Rokuro residence, it was moved here in 1928; its gable-end front carries a cusped gable on the eaves (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

According to Bunkyo City, the temple is a 1-minute walk from Gokokuji Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line and from the Gokokuji Seimon-mae stop of the Toei buses. No official information on visiting hours was found.