Sazaido
Back : Find on a modern map Back : Find on a detailed map of Edo Back : Koto-ku Back : Fukagawa ezu
- Formal Name
- Gohyakurakan-ji Sansodo
- Current Address
- Koto-ku, Oshima
- Description
- Refers to the Sanso-do Hall constructed within the grounds of Gohyakurakan-ji Temple in 1741. The name Sanso-do Hall means the hall that rotates 3 times, and the inside of the hall is a 3 layered spiral shape, structured so that one can climb and descend the tower without using the same passageway twice. The shape was reminiscent of a saza'e (razor clam) so it became known as "Saza'e-do Hall" (razor clam hall). There is a Kannon fudasho (temple which issues amulets) part way through the passage, and it is said if one circles around the entire inside of the hall, then one has completed a Kannon pilgrimage, and this rare opportunity made the site popular with the people of Edo. It was ruined by destructive storms in the Koka Era (1844-48) and the Ansei Great Earthquakes in 1855. Gohyakurakan-ji Temple was relocated to Meguro during the Meiji Era but Saza'e-do Hall no longer exists.
