Shinjuku Ruriko-in Byakurenge-do

Ruriko-in Byakurenge-do temple, standing in the shadows of Nishi-Shinjuku’s high-rises, has become a landmark of the highly urbanized environment in the past 10 years. Constructed in 2014, this Buddhist grounds of a unique structure was designed by contemporary architect Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama (Amorphe Architects Studio), known for brutalist concrete works that sprouted in the Japanese cityscape, such as:

• Aoyama’s Terrazza building in Tokyo; and more recently,
• Meguro’s Oak Bldg II, constructed in 2020.

Both massive and delicate, the white concrete architecture of the vertical temple rises to the sky like a budding lotus flower. Thanks to its original shape, the building has a reduced footprint on the ground, as if standing on a stem. Its upper floors appear larger, like huge petals of a lotus flower about to bloom. The building’s small forecourt is ornamented with a green touch of water lilies and lotus growing out of a pond and symbolizing purity and reincarnation in Japanese Buddhism.

Several windows, of various shapes and locations, enliven the walls and let natural light flow into the temple’s floors. Each of them receive a function in the same manner as the many individual pavilions that constitute a traditional open-air temple grounds. Ruriko-in Byakurenge-do’s various prayer rooms and liturgical spaces are shaped by creative choices and space scarcity. They are grouped indoor into a vertical structure that includes:

• The cemetery, the most secluded and solemn part of the temple (okunoin) is located at the underground BF1 level;
• The main halls Hondo and Nyorai-do occupy the upper floors; and,
• The Buddhist artworks exhibition hall is at the 3rd floor.

The rooms are centered around an open atrium that connects all the spaces while ensuring another natural ceiling lighting source.

An interactive indoor Buddhist cemetery

Ruriko-in Byakurenge-do is a temple of the popular Jodo-Shinshu school (True Pure Land Buddhism), and is first and foremost a place of worship where people come to recollect every day. In line with its original modern architecture, the temple’s parishioners are offered the concept of an upscale indoor cemetery, where electronics are used to enter the ossuary and access to the family vault.

As a matter of fact, tourists are not allowed at all the floors, and access to rooms can be restricted due to ongoing private ceremonies. The ground floor is free to access during the temple’s opening hours and has a shop selling amulets and divine protections. Artistic and cultural events are also staged frequently in the building.

Ruriko-in Byakurenge-do temple is worth a stroll in Shinjuku’s more peaceful side-streets to find and admire its unique design, that is sure to amaze amateurs of Tokyo’s contemporary architecture.