MONAS | Tone 1 | Phrase 11: The Boat Corridor of Chikubu Island

Aureilia
Jul 13
28 min read

Updated: Aug 26

“You said before that Kobori Enshū was basically an art director who designed everything from gardens to interiors, and that the Bōsen tea room at Daitoku-ji Kohō-an was designed to recreate the view from a goza-bune imperial barge, didn't you?”

“Yes... But this... it truly feels like a vessel worthy of the ruler of the realm. It is a beauty at the absolute polar opposite of wabi-sabi.”

The two were walking along the Watari-rō—commonly known as the Funa-rōka (Boat Corridor)—a Nationally Designated Important Cultural Property that connects the Kannondō hall of Hōgon-ji Temple with Tsukubusuma Shrine. Because the ceiling repurposes the structural framework of the funayagura (deckhouse) of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s goza-bune imperial barge, the Nihonmaru, it forms a funa-tenjō (boat ceiling), creating the exquisite illusion of looking up at the inside of a ship’s hull. Along the walls on either side of the corridor, a succession of windows fitted with the slender lattices known as renji-mado lined the path, where the streaming sunlight filtered through to cast delicate interference fringes that danced in the breeze sweeping off Lake Biwa.

“It is the same with Kyoto’s senbon-gōshi lattices, but here they align the slender laths at a diagonal angle, you see. A simple arrangement of the wood provides privacy while still letting the wind flow through. Every single one of these architectural details is so painstakingly crafted.”

“Ah. It is a stylish arrangement, treating Chikubu Island itself as a ship. It offers a sweeping view of Lake Biwa. What is more, even the taruki rafters are coated in black lacquer and finished with gold plating.”

“Oh? You are right... Kai-san, actually, the ones who introduced the method of gold plating were also the Phoenicians.”

“Are you serious? ...Ah, indeed, to build King Solomon’s Temple, King Hiram of Phoenicia sent the stonemason Hiram to Israel, didn’t he?”