Sensoji Temple Denpoin

The Head Residence of Sensoji

The Sensoji Temple Denpoin (浅草寺伝法院) is the head residence of a great temple of 1776 to 1918 in Asakusa, Taito Ward, Tokyo, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on July 8, 2015 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records six buildings: the reception hall, entrance hall, large study hall, small study hall, new study hall and kitchen; designation number 2627.

The Head Residence of Sensoji

Sensoji has drawn worshippers since ancient times as a sacred site of the bodhisattva Kannon, and Denpoin is its head residence, southwest of the main temple buildings (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The reception hall was built in 1776 and the entrance hall the following year, in 1777.

The reception hall is a large abbot's-hall type of main hall, notable for its three inner sanctuaries side by side with broad altars, and a grand entrance hall stands to the south (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The reception hall is 22.0 by 15.3 metres under a hipped roof; the entrance hall, 20.2 by 11.6 metres under a hip-and-gable roof, has a porch with a cusped gable.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency values the grand reception and entrance halls as rare survivals of the core of a great temple's head residence in Edo, and the modern study halls and kitchen as a group that forms, with the garden, the space at the back. The six buildings were designated an Important Cultural Property on July 8, 2015.

Study Halls and Kitchen of the Meiji and Taisho Eras

The study halls and kitchen were rebuilt between the late Meiji and the Taisho eras (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The large study hall of 1902 shows modern refinement in its lavish interior decoration and in columns placed to frame the view of the garden. The small study hall and the kitchen also date from 1902 and the new study hall from 1918; the kitchen is 30.3 metres long.

What to Look For

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education notes that Denpoin escaped two great fires and, with the Nitenmon Gate and Asakusa Shrine, carries the atmosphere of Edo.

Visiting

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, the Denpoin garden is normally closed to the public. Directions are on the Sensoji Temple page.