29‏/07‏/2014

Reception Hall of Eiheiji Temple

Eiheiji Guide 04: Meet the monks at Kichijōkaku Hall!

By Takako Sakamoto

Community writer

Offered coins sit at the bottom of the water basin

Kichijōkaku Hall viewed from the front garden

Next to the Kichijōkaku Hall, there are other buildings which are closed to the public

Water basins standing in front of Kichijōkaku Hall

Front view of the Kichijōkaku Hall, which plays the roll of reception hall for visitors

When you enter Kichijōkaku Hall, a trainee monk welcomes you and receives entry tickets. The entrance fee is 500 yen per person (adult)

When you enter Kichijōkaku Hall, you'll be ushered into a spacious tatami-mat room for briefing. One of the trainee monks will explain how to explore the temple buildings. You can take photos but the flash should be off. Also, you CANNOT take photos of the monks in training

His presentation sounded professional, but he said he's only been here for three months. Their training includes communicating well with visitors!

You can buy Eiheiji-related goods here at the souvenir shop on the first floor in this hall

Inside the lecture hall an introduction video was playing for visitors

This photo story is to guide you step-by-step as you explore Eiheiji Temple in Fukui, the Zen temple of 'Eternal Peace'. The fourth leg of the guide focuses on the 'Kichijōkaku Hall', the first building you'll enter when you visit Eiheiji. Here, you'll be ushered to a spacious tatami-mat room to be briefed by one of the trainee monks. According to him, they are not allowed to speak in some buildings, and have to live on ONE tatami mat (Japanese straw mat) per monk, which means a trainee monk has to sleep, sit, eat, read, etc, in a small space of 0.9m by 1.75m. A western friend of mine who visited here with me is as tall as 190 cm, he surely can't be a trainee monk here!

For other photos, please see these other photo stories, a detailed history, this article, and the other entries to this guide, the links below.