Tōgudō 東求堂

Official explanation

The Tōgudō is one of two buildings remaining from the Higashiyama-sansō villa commissioned by Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436–1490). It was completed in 1486 and is a registered National Treasure. The building exemplifies the rustic wabi-sabi aesthetics of Higashiyama culture.

One of the four rooms inside the Tōgudō, the Dōjinsai, is important for its influence on Japanese architecture. This four-and-a-half mat (yojo han) room was Yoshimasa’s personal study. It is built in a style known as shoin-zukuri, inspired by Zen Buddhism. The style is simple, characterized by features including a built-in desk (tsukeshoin) for which it is named. The room has staggered shelves to display precious Chinese objects, tatami flooring, sliding paper screens to let in light, and views over a garden. The shoin-zukuri style became the predominant form of residential architecture during the Edo period (1603–1867) and still forms the basis of traditional Japanese architecture today. The Dōjinsai is the oldest extant four-and-a-half mat shoin-zukuri room and is seen as a precursor to the tearooms that followed the same design features and small dimensions.

Read the full explanation

The room diagonally across from the Dōjinsai houses two altars, one enshrining a standing image of Amida Buddha (also called the Buddha of Infinite Light) and the other a life-like wooden statue of Yoshimitsu in his priestly robes. The rooms of the Tōgudō are usually closed to the public.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.