Restoration of the Goeido Hall in Higashi Honganji Temple, the headquarters of the Shinshu Otani sect of Buddhism, in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, has completed, and the sliding away of the temporary shed used during that was carried out on July 16. One of the world's biggest wooden buildings was revealed again for the first time in five years.

Temporary Shed Slides 67 Meters

The restoration construction started in March, 2004, in preparation for the commemoration of the 750th anniversary of the death of Shinran Shonin, the founder of the sect, in 2011. The site was covered with the temporary shed measuring 92 meters wide, 79 meters deep and 51 meters high.

The sliding mechanism pulls the shed with metal wires and jacks. The shed has a total weight of 1500 tons and has set rollers and carriage rails. It takes about three and half hours to slide the shed southward for the 67-meter distance to cover the Amida Hall.

At 10:00 a.m., Reverend Ko Yasuhara, chief administrator of the temple, and the representatives of the construction company and the architectural design company pushed the button together to start the operation. While approximately 2,000 monks, followers, and worshippers watched, the hip-and-gable style roof of the stately, grand Goeido Hall gradually showed itself as the shed slowly proceeded along the ground.

The Goeido Hall which enshrines the statue of Shinran Shonin, the founder of the sect, is 76 meters wide, 58 meters deep, and 38 meters high. It was rebuilt in 1895.