Toshogu Honjido (city-designated important tangible cultural property)

This is a hall where Toshogu Shrine's Honjibutsu Yakushi Nyorai (Buddha Buddha), the original Buddha of Toshogu Shrine, is enshrined. You may find it strange that there is a hall dedicated to Buddha within a shrine. This shows that, based on the Honji Suijaku theory that "Japanese gods are Buddhas who have changed their appearance," the shrines enshrined Honji Buddhas, which are considered to be the original forms of the gods. Many of these buildings disappeared due to the policy of separating Shinto and Buddhism at the beginning of the Meiji period, but this Honjido is a relic that shows the structure of the shrine before that. The building is based on a Japanese style. The joints supporting the eaves, etc., inherit the style of the Momoyama period, and the onigawara (roof tiles) attached to the four corners of the roof and the hoju (jewel) on the top are good examples of the style of the early Edo period. The most distinctive feature is the frog-leg area; while the outline has a Momoyama-style, bulging shoulder, the carving on the inside of the thigh is in full relief and completely Edo-style, clearly demonstrating the transitional style from the Momoyama to the Edo style.