Chohoji Temple

Chohoji Temple: Temple of the Kishu Tokugawa

Chohoji Temple (長保寺) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Kami, Shimotsu-cho, Kainan City, Wakayama Prefecture, whose main hall, tahoto pagoda and great gate, built between the late Kamakura and early Muromachi periods, were designated National Treasures in 1953, with its Chinju shrine hall designated an Important Cultural Property.

According to Kainan City, work on Chohoji began in 1000 as a temple founded at the wish of Emperor Ichijo, and it was completed in 1017. The temple site was moved east in 1242 and the present main hall built in 1311. First belonging to the Hosso school, it later passed to the Tendai and then Shingon schools.

In the Edo period Tokugawa Yorinobu, first lord of the Kishu domain, made Chohoji the family temple and returned it to the Tendai school; Kainan City dates this to 1666 and Wakayama Prefecture to 1667. The domain lords were buried in grounds at the back of the temple, where their gravestones stand, except for the eighth, Yoshimune, and the thirteenth, Yoshitomi, who became shogun.

The Four Buildings

The three National Treasures are the main hall of 1311, the tahoto pagoda, whose central pillar carries an inscription of 1357, and the great gate of 1388. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it is rare for the principal buildings of a temple, built not far apart in time, to survive together like this. Chohoji itself says it is one of only two temples, with Horyuji in Nara, whose main hall, pagoda and main gate are all National Treasures.

The styles differ. The main hall blends the traditional Japanese style with Zen-style elements in the inner sanctuary, the pagoda keeps to a purely Japanese style outside, and the gate is Japanese-style with Zen-style details. Up a path between the main hall and the pagoda stands the Chinju shrine hall, a one-bay nagare-style shrine with a cypress-bark roof, dated by temple tradition to 1295 and by style to the late Kamakura period.

Visiting: Currently Closed

Chohoji is closed to visitors. On 2 June 2023, torrential rain brought down the slope behind the National Treasure main hall, burying the area around it in mud. The temple's website says restoration is proceeding in stages but has no end date, and expects the closure to last another 2 to 3 years; temple seal stamps are also suspended. Kainan City likewise noted in an update of April 2026 that the temple cannot be visited during the repairs.

For reference once it reopens, the Wakayama tourism site lists hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., admission of 300 yen (free for elementary pupils and under), and access by car about 10 minutes from Shimotsu Station on the JR Kinokuni Line. There is parking. Check the status with the temple on 073-492-1030 before planning a visit.