Maniji Main Gate

What is the Maniji Main Gate?

The Maniji Main Gate (摩尼寺山門, Maniji Sanmon) is a Meiji-era gate of the Yakuimon type standing directly in front of the main hall of Maniji Temple in Kakuji, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 19, 2014.

Do not confuse it with the Niōmon, the two-story guardian gate partway up the approach. The Maniji Main Gate is the second gate, at the very top of the 303 stone steps, where the steps reach the temple precinct. It has a single opening one bay wide, a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) roof of interlocking pantiles, and, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a frontage of 2.9 meters, with plastered side walls and a small wicket door.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the gate to the middle of the Meiji era (1883 to 1897). A 2015 survey report by Tottori University of Environmental Studies is more precise: the temple's property register lists a "middle gate" with the note "rebuilt in Meiji 22," which is 1889.

Why the Maniji Main Gate was registered

The gate was entered in the 79th round of registrations as number 31-0197, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The agency's description singles out the three-dimensional carving applied throughout, which gives the front of the precinct its decorative face.

A yakuimon carries its gabled roof on two stout main posts at the front and two lighter rear posts (Hikaebashira) behind. At Maniji the main posts are rectangular in section. Each pair carries a crosspiece (Kabuki), and three-part bracket sets (Mitsudo-gumi) on small saucer bases hold beams that end in carved projections (Kibana). The ridge rests on a vase-shaped strut (Taiheizuka), and the scrolling side panels (Oigata) that flank it are carved with waves.

The carving style links the Maniji Main Gate to the main hall of 1860. The survey found that the spirals on the gate's beam ends and bracket arms are almost identical to those on the hall. The team first assumed the two were built together, until the property register turned up and showed the gate was rebuilt about 29 years later. The same school of carving was evidently still at work in the 1880s.

The rebuilding also changed the layout. A scenic guide to Inaba from 1858 shows a much smaller gate, more like a simple roofed gate, with straight side walls running into long, row-house-like buildings. The survey suggests those buildings were cleared around 1889 and the level ground in front of the gate extended.

What to look for at the Maniji Main Gate

Just below the top, the stone steps turn at a right angle, and the gate stands at the head of the final short flight. Its side walls bend around that flight like a pair of wings. Stop on the steps before the turn and the gate and its walls rise ahead of you as one continuous front.

Look up at the gable end. Where the bargeboards meet hangs a pendant (Gegyo) made of three flower shapes. Behind it, the wave-carved panels spread out on either side of the vase-shaped strut, so the very members that carry the ridge double as decoration. Ornamental shachi, the fish-tailed creatures meant to ward off fire, sit at both ends of the ridge.

Before walking through, take in the double-leaf paneled doors (Sankarado) and the eaves, which have two tiers of rafters. Even the short beams tying the main posts to the rear posts are shaped like rainbow beams and carved. The wicket door opens in the plastered wall on the west side.

Visiting the Maniji Main Gate

Every visitor heading for the main hall passes through the Maniji Main Gate, so you can see it freely during the temple's visiting hours, which the official website gives as 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The front is best seen from the last flight above the turn, and the carved gable from the steps just below it. Once through, turn around to see how the rear posts and crosspieces are put together.

Neither the temple's website nor the city's tourism pages mention rules on photography. The top of the steps is narrow, so step aside if you stop for a picture. Directions and general visiting information are on the Maniji Temple page.