Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple Approach
licensed photographくろふね / CC BY 4.0

West Chiba · IchikawaNo.935★★Open in map →

Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple Approach

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A stone-paved approach in suburban Ichikawa that runs from a black wooden gate, through a working temple town, to the red five-storied pagoda and the great doubled roof of a Nichiren head temple. The street itself is public and open.

  1. FromTokyo Station
  2. ~30 minJR train, one change at Ichikawa
  3. Get off atShimousa-Nakayama Station (JR Sobu Line)
  4. On foot
  5. Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple Approach
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is not an unknown temple. It is a head temple that has given its name to two stations. But it sits off the sightseeing line that runs Tokyo to Kamakura to Nikko, and travellers heading east usually carry on to Narita. What survives is a complete temple town, gates and pagoda included, within easy reach of the city.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Five-storied pagodaくろふね / CC BY 4.0
  1. Kuromon, the black gatethe temple's outer gate in black-painted timber, standing across the public street
  2. The temple-town streetstone paving, old shop fronts and red banners running between the black gate and the red one
  3. Niomon, the red gatethe vermilion inner gate; pass under it and the pagoda comes into view ahead
  4. The five-storied pagoda31.6 metres of vermilion timber in restrained Japanese style, its top eaves alone fanned
  5. Soshido, the main halla seven-bay hall under a hiyoku-irimoya roof, two gables set side by side

How to actually get there

  1. Tokyo Station → Ichikawa Station (JR Sobu Line Rapid).
  2. Ichikawa Station → Shimousa-Nakayama Station (JR Sobu Line local, two stops).
  3. Shimousa-Nakayama north exit → the black gate, walking north across the Keisei tracks.
  4. Black gate → the temple-town street → the red gate → the pagoda and the main hall.
JR Sobu Line from Tokyo Station, one change at Ichikawa
Tokyo Station →(JR Sobu Line Rapid, toward Chiba)→ Ichikawa Station, change to the Sobu Line local →(two stops)→ Shimousa-Nakayama Station. About 30 minutes in all with one change. Both legs run frequently through the day, so there is no timetable to plan around.
Return from Shimousa-Nakayama
Walk back down the approach to Shimousa-Nakayama Station and take the Sobu Line local westbound. Change at Ichikawa for the Rapid to Tokyo Station, or stay on the local through Akihabara and Ochanomizu. Services run into the late evening on both legs, so an evening in the temple town does not need planning around a last train.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Hokekyoji stands in Nakayama, on the Ichikawa side of the Tokyo–Chiba boundary, where the JR and Keisei lines run close together. From the railway a paved street climbs gently north between shop fronts and red banners, passing under two gates before it opens into the temple yard. For a suburban temple the precinct carries an unusual concentration of nationally designated buildings: the pagoda, the main hall, the Hokke-do and the four-legged gate. It is one of the head temples of the Nichiren school, and its winter training hall draws priests from across the country.

How to enjoy it

The approach is a public street, so the gates and the shop fronts can be walked at any hour, while the precinct itself keeps daytime hours. From 1 November to 10 February the training hall runs its hundred-day winter austerity and the temple town takes on a different character. Late March into early April puts cherry blossom over the length of the paving.

Background & history

The temple traces its founding to 1260, when Nichiren, driven out of Kamakura, was taken in by local lords and the private chapel of his follower Toki Jonin became a temple. The five-storied pagoda was raised in 1622 by Hon'ami Koshitsu, of the Kyoto family known for sword appraisal and lacquer work, with backing from the lord of Kaga, in memory of his parents. The main hall standing today dates from 1678, replacing an earlier hall on the same ground.

Before you go

Cash
Walking the approach and passing the gates costs nothing. Arrangements inside the precinct can change, so read the notice at the gate on the day. Both stations take IC cards and cash.
Before you go
The temple grounds keep daytime opening hours and close in the late afternoon, while the street outside the gates stays walkable. There is little shelter along the paving, so check the forecast first.
Another way
Keisei Nakayama Station on the Keisei Main Line stands right beside the approach and is the shorter walk of the two. It is reached from Keisei Ueno on the Keisei Main Line.
After you get off
Leave Shimousa-Nakayama Station by the north exit and walk north for about 10 minutes. Once you have crossed the Keisei tracks, the black gate appears standing over the street ahead.