What Is Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse?
Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse (高野山霊宝館宝蔵, Hōzō) is a 1920 reinforced concrete storehouse in the form of an azekura log store at Koyasan Reihokan Museum in Koya Town, Wakayama Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1998.
It is the only concrete building among the museum's original structures. Single-storey, with a hipped roof (Yosemune-zukuri) sheathed in copper, it measures 36 by 24 shaku, about 10.9 by 7.3 meters, a floor of 24 tsubo. The building area is 96 square meters.
Everything else at the museum, galleries and corridors alike, was built in plastered timber, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs attributes to the mountain climate. The store for the treasures themselves was the one exception.
Why Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse Was Registered
The other four buildings were registered as models of form. Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse was registered under a different criterion: a building that would not be easy to reproduce.
The agency calls it the first reinforced concrete building in the azekura style. An azekura is a storehouse whose walls are built of stacked timbers laid crosswise at the corners, a type long used for keeping temple and court treasures. Here that look is rendered in concrete.
The agency goes on to suggest that it was a study for the Meiji Jingu Treasure House in Tokyo, completed in 1921 to designs by Ōe Shintarō. That building also combines azekura and other traditional Japanese motifs with an all-concrete structure chosen for earthquake and fire resistance. On Mount Koya, a year earlier and at a much smaller scale, the same architect was trying out the pairing of an old storehouse form with a new material.
Highlights of Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse
What makes Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse worth seeking out is the idea itself: a building type meant to be assembled from timber, recast in reinforced concrete. If you get a view of it, look for the meeting of the copper hipped roof and the log-store walls copied in concrete.
If you know the Meiji Jingu Treasure House, you can trace the same designer's thinking here in miniature. At 96 square meters the Koyasan storehouse is far smaller than the central building in Tokyo, and its modest size fits its role as a trial piece.
A concrete storehouse put up in the Taisho period on a mountain of timber temples says a good deal about what the museum was for: keeping Koyasan's treasures safe.
Visiting Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse
Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse is not on the visitor route shown in the museum's floor plan, and the visitor information says nothing about opening its interior. The museum does not say where the exterior can be seen from either, so ask at reception if you want to look at it.
Photography is prohibited inside the museum galleries. Opening hours, fees and directions are on the Koyasan Reihokan Museum page.
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Q&A
- What is Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse?
- A single-storey reinforced concrete storehouse built in 1920, with a copper hipped roof and walls in the form of an azekura log store. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1998.
- Why is Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse important?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the first reinforced concrete building in the azekura style. It was registered as a building that would not be easy to reproduce, unlike the other four museum buildings.
- How is Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse related to the Meiji Jingu Treasure House?
- Both were designed by Ōe Shintarō, and the agency considers the Koyasan storehouse a study for the Meiji Jingu Treasure House, which was completed in 1921.
- How large is Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse?
- It measures 36 by 24 shaku (about 10.9 by 7.3 meters), or 24 tsubo, with a building area of 96 square meters.
- Can I visit Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse?
- It is not on the museum's visitor route, and no interior opening is advertised. Ask at reception where the exterior can be seen.
Basic Information
| Name | Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 306 Koyasan, Koya-cho, Ito-gun, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on September 2, 1998 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 96 m² (single-storey reinforced concrete, hipped roof, copper roofing; 36 by 24 shaku) |
| Owner | Koyasan Cultural Properties Preservation Society (public interest incorporated foundation) |
| Public Access | Not on the visitor route; no interior access advertised |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000806
- Cultural Heritage Online: Koyasan Reihokan Treasure Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/177026
- Cultural Heritage Online: Meiji Jingu Treasure House, Office (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/239559
- Koyasan Reihokan Museum: About the Museum (Japanese)
- https://reihokan.or.jp/about/
- Koyasan Reihokan Museum: Visitor Information (Japanese)
- https://reihokan.or.jp/riyo/
Last verified: 2026.10.07
