Temple Office (Shoin) 勝興寺/書院

Official explanation

The Temple Office was the administrative center of the temple, where the priests kept accounts and records and studied Buddhist texts. It was completed in the mid-eighteenth century and remained in use until the early twentieth century. The three rooms of the Temple Office are connected by a corridor, with sliding panels along its length that were opened to provide natural light for the priests to work.

One of the rooms contains a full-size reproduction of a pair of decorated folding screens gifted to the temple in the eighteenth century. The gilded screens are painted with scenes of Kyoto, including famous sites such as Nijo Castle and Kiyomizudera Temple. Calligraphy sets, lacquerware, and other treasures from the temple collection are exhibited in the far room. The Temple Office is designated an Important Cultural Property.

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.