Myōryū-ji (ninja temple)

photo by Kentaro Ohno from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0

photo by Naokijp · CC BY-SA 4.0

Two storeys from outside, seven inside: 23 rooms, 29 staircases, a 25-metre well.

From outside it looks like a two-storey building, but inside it spreads over seven levels with 23 rooms and 29 flights of stairs. Visitors find an offering box that opens like a trapdoor, a staircase that disappears under the floor, and in the centre a 25-metre well that, according to tradition, hides a secret passage to Kanazawa Castle: hence the nickname ‘ninja temple’, although no ninja was ever stationed here.

It was founded in 1643 by the third daimyo of Kaga, Maeda Toshitsune, who had it built disguised as a temple to get round the shogunate's ban on new castles, at a time of tension with the Tokugawa shogunate, which forbade the domains to build new fortifications. The temple, of the Nichiren school, was built with the harmless appearance of a place of worship but with the real function of a watchtower and armed refuge.

ℹ️ Visits by telephone booking only, which is required: groups are guided round every hour on weekdays and every 30 minutes at weekends and on public holidays, 9:00–16:00, lasting about 40 minutes. Tickets: adults (high school and above) 1,200 yen, children 800 yen; preschool children are not admitted.

🚉 Nomachi · 9 min walk

Sources: hot-ishikawa.jp · ja.wikipedia.org

All series · Open the map