Fuki-ji Great Hall

photo by Wiiii · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by JNN360 · CC BY-SA 4.0

A twelfth-century wooden hall, a rare Heian-period survivor outside Kinki.

The Fuki-ji Ōdō is one of the very few Heian-period wooden structures still standing outside the Kinki area (Kyoto–Nara–Osaka). Designated a National Treasure in 1952, it has a pyramidal roof (hōgyō-zukuri) with a tile covering known as ‘gyōki-yane’. It is part of the Rokugō Manzan temple network, the mountain Buddhism of Kunisaki.

Fuki-ji, in the city of Bungotakada, houses the Great Hall (Ōdō), among the oldest wooden structures in Japan surviving outside Kinki. Tradition dates its founding to 718, but the architectural evidence points to construction in the mid-Heian period, under the patronage of the family of the chief priests of Usa Jingū. The main Buddha worshipped is Amida (Amitabha). The building, designated a National Treasure in 1952 and with Historic Site status since 2013, belongs to the Rokugō Manzan network, the syncretic mountain Buddhism found across the Kunisaki Peninsula, which blends Shinto worship of Hachiman with Buddhist practices. Today the complex also has a small shukubō (pilgrims' lodging).

ℹ️ Opening hours: 8:30–16:30. Tickets: adults/high school 500¥, elementary school/junior high 150¥. On the Kunisaki Peninsula, reachable by car; not on a direct rail line.

🚉 富貴寺 (Fuki-ji) · 1 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org

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