Buildings and cultural heritage

Tosyogu Shrine

Tosyogu Shrine, also on the Kitain temple grounds, was built in 1633 to honor the late shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa who had aided in the development of kitain. However, a fire in 1638 destroyed most of Kitain as well as the Shrine.The Shrine was rebuilt in 1640 under orders of the third Tokugawa Shogun Iemitsu, the architecture of which closely resembles that of the main Tosyogu Shrine at Nikko.

Remains of Edo Castle

To help rebuild Kitain, Shogun Iemitsu orderd several buildings to be moved from Edo Castle (now the site of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo) to Kawagoe.These buildings today are protected as national treasures, and house Kitain's museum. They are all that remain of the builgings of Edo Castle because of the damage Tokyo suffered during the Great Earthquake of 1923 and World War II. One of the most ornate rooms, with a decorative floral ceiling, is thought to be the room where Shogun Iemitsu was born. Other rooms belonged to the powerful Kasuga no Tsubone who was Iemitsu's nursemaid and later was in charge of the large women's quarters at Edo Castle.

500 Statues of Rakan

There are actually 540 of these statues representing the disciples of Buddha. They were carved between 1782 and 1825 with no two statues alike. It is said that if you feel among the statues in the dead of night you will find one that is warm. Mark it, come back during the day, and you will see it is the statue most resembling yourself.

Daimyo Graves

Behind the main building of Kitain are graves of five of the feudal lords who ruled the Kawagoe domain during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Shokunin Tsukushie

These 24 scenes of craftsman at work were painted in the early 1600's by Masanobu Kano who founded the Kano School of painting. The pictures are Important National Treasures.