Sanmon Gate 三門

Official explanation

The Sanmon Gate is considered the main gate to Kuonji Temple. It was first built in 1642 and has been rebuilt three times due to fire damage over the years. A major renovation was completed in 1907.

The massive gate stands 21 meters high and 23 meters wide. It is one of the three largest gates in Japan’s Kanto region.

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Temple gates with three openings (Sanmon) are also referred to as gates of the “three liberations.” Each of the three openings in the gate represents one of these liberations: kumon (emptiness), musomon (formlessness), and muganmon (inaction). It is said that passing through the Sanmon Gate can rid the believer of the three human afflictions: greed, anger, and foolishness.

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.