A Small Pavilion Before the Main Hall
Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion (祐天寺水屋, Yūtenji Mizuya) is an 1846 water pavilion standing between the main hall and the Nio Gate of Yutenji in Nakameguro, Meguro City, Tokyo, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 24 December 2013. Open on all four sides, it shelters the basin where worshippers rinse their hands and mouths before approaching the main hall, and covers only 3.0 square metres.
The temple chronology records that the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion was raised on the 24th day of the sixth month of 1846, with a carved dragon fixed at the centre of its ceiling. The ridge tablet carries the invocation of the abbot Yuko along with the names of the priests Gakuo and Yugan and the master carpenters Ishikawa Tsunezo and Nishinomiya Kiyotada. The following month a basin was cut from Komatsu stone and carved on its face with two characters meaning "pure water". The calligrapher was Masaki Shirozaemon, who signed himself Ryumin and sold dried seaweed in front of the Kaminarimon gate in Asakusa.
In 1983 the roof was re-covered as part of a project marking the 850th anniversary of the birth of Honen and the 350th of Yuten Shonin.
The temple once had a second water pavilion. Given by the E fire brigade in 1789 for the Jizo Hall and rebuilt in 1896, it was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The registered building is the one of 1846 in front of the main hall.
A Great Deal of Carpentry in a Small Space
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion as a north-south structure one bay square, with an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof in copper sheet. Its square posts lean slightly inward and the sides are left open. The head tie beams linking the tops of the posts are shaped like curved Kōryō beams, and three-bearing bracket sets at the corners and between them carry the eave purlins. Inside the eaves, zelkova Shirin panels slope up to a raised ceiling, at whose centre hangs the dragon, carved in the round.
Leaning the posts inward makes a building look taut from below. What rewards attention is that a structure of barely three square metres uses the same bracketing and ceiling techniques as the halls and gates around it. The Agency singles out the carvings at key points as especially fine. It was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape.
Look Up at the Dragon
At the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion, look up before you look at the water. The zelkova panels rise on all four sides toward the raised ceiling, and the dragon is set in its centre. It is carved in the round rather than in relief, so its posture shifts as you move around beneath it.
Read the two characters on the face of the basin before you reach for a ladle. They are Ryumin's work, of the same year as the building.
The inward lean of the posts shows best from a few steps away, sighting along a row of them: the corner posts draw slightly closer together toward the top.
Visiting the Pavilion
The pavilion is open on all sides and can be seen whenever the grounds are open. The dragon sits in the shadow of the eaves and is easiest to make out in bright daylight. Take photographs from the side so as not to get in the way of people using the basin.
Directions and visiting hours for the temple are on the Yutenji Temple page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Tokyo
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion
- [ Tokyo Skytree Asakusa & teamLab Experiences ]
Q&A
- What is on the ceiling of the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion?
- A dragon carved in the round is set at the centre of the raised ceiling. According to the temple chronology it was installed when the pavilion was raised in 1846.
- When was the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion built?
- It was raised on the 24th day of the sixth month of 1846. Its ridge tablet names the abbot Yuko and the master carpenters Ishikawa Tsunezo and Nishinomiya Kiyotada.
- Who wrote the characters on the basin of the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion?
- The two characters meaning "pure water" were written by Masaki Shirozaemon, a late-Edo calligrapher who signed himself Ryumin. The basin was cut from Komatsu stone in 1846.
- When was the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion registered as a cultural property?
- On 24 December 2013, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape. Its registration number is 13-0303.
- Where is the Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion?
- Between the Nio Gate and the main hall, aligned north to south. It is open on all sides and can be seen whenever the grounds are open.
Basic Information
| Name | Yutenji Temple Ablution Pavilion |
|---|---|
| Location | 5-1067-1 Nakameguro, Meguro City, Tokyo (temple postal address: 5-24-53 Nakameguro) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2013/12/24 (Heisei 25) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, copper-sheet roof, 1 bay square, area 3.0 square metres |
| Owner | Yutenji (religious corporation) |
| Public Access | Open on all sides; viewable freely whenever the grounds are open |
References
- 祐天寺水屋, Agency for Cultural Affairs Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009718
- 祐天寺水屋, Cultural Heritage Online
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/207637
- Yutenji Temple history chronology, 1846 (Yutenji Temple official site)
- https://www.yutenji.or.jp/history/nenpyo/page-33130/page-33639/
- Yutenji Temple history chronology, 1789 (Yutenji Temple official site)
- https://www.yutenji.or.jp/history/nenpyo/page-33120/page-33509/
- Yutenji Temple history chronology, 1896 (Yutenji Temple official site)
- https://www.yutenji.or.jp/history/nenpyo/page-33145/page-33746/
- Yutenji Temple history chronology, 1923 (Yutenji Temple official site)
- https://www.yutenji.or.jp/history/nenpyo/page-33147/page-35929/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
