Daijuji Temple

A Soto Zen Temple on the Hillside East of Ichiba Castle

The Daijuji Temple (大樹寺, Daijuji) is a Soto Zen temple in Fukuchi, Yazu Town, Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture, whose main hall, founder's hall, monks' hall and bell tower were registered in 2024 as four Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs places the temple on the hillside east of the Ichiba Castle ruins. It belongs to the religious corporation Daijuji.

Yazu Town notes that the temple had the only specialist Soto Zen training hall in the Chugoku region, and that its grounds hold a stone pagoda designated by the town and a camellia estimated to be more than 400 years old.

History

According to Yazu Town, Daijuji was founded as the family temple of Ando Yoshimitsu, a senior retainer of Ichiba Castle, on the hillside above the castle. It burned with the castle in 1580, during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's siege of Tottori.

It was rebuilt on its present site in 1655. The Yazu tourism association describes it as linked to the Ikeda lords of Tottori, and the town notes that the sliding door of the founder's hall is carved with a crest associated with the Tottori lords.

The present buildings date from the Taisho era to the Showa 30s, and the main hall is the oldest of the four registered.

Layout of the Precinct

The Agency describes the main hall at the centre of the precinct, facing west. The founder's hall is joined to its rear by a corridor, the monks' hall stands to the northeast and the bell tower to the southwest.

The main hall is thus surrounded by the founder's hall behind, the monks' hall to the northeast and the bell tower to the southwest, each of which the Agency sees as part of the temple's historic scene.

The Yazu tourism association describes the Uraku camellia in the grounds as 8.7 metres tall, 1.85 metres round the trunk and 10.5 metres across, flowering from late November to early April. The town says the bell tower and the camellia make a fine scene in spring.

Getting to Daijuji Temple

The Tottori Prefecture tourism federation gives the address as 408 Fukuchi, Yazu Town, about 20 minutes by car from JR Tottori Station. The Tottori City tourism association gives about 30 minutes from the Kawahara interchange of the Tottori Expressway and about 20 minutes by car from JR Higashi-Koge Station, with free parking.

No official information on visiting conditions could be found. Enquiries: Daijuji, 0858-74-0854, or the Yazu tourism association.