Kora Munehiro
Kora Munehiro was an early Edo period architect known in particular for directing the construction of Nikkô Tôshôgû.
Born in 1574 and raised in Kôra in Ômi province, Munehiro was involved in the construction of buildings or sculptures at a number of notable sites over the course of his career, including overseeing or directing the construction of buildings at Yoshida Shrine in Kyoto, the five-story pagoda at Kan'ei-ji in Edo, and sculptures for Daitoku-in at Zôjô-ji. In recognition of his contributions, he was granted the honorary title of Bungo no kami in 1596; that same year, he oversaw repair work at Fushimi castle, which was damaged in an earthquake.
In 1634, he was appointed by the Tokugawa shogunate to oversee the construction of shrine buildings at Nikkô Tôshôgû, a shrine dedicated to the kami Tôshô Daigongen, the deified spirit of the late Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Directing a team of some 10,000 workers, he completed the shrine in under a year and a half.
His hometown of Kôra (modern-day Shiga prefecture) is today sister cities with the city of Nikkô. A bronze statue of Munehiro, erected in 1979, stands today in the parking lot on the shrine grounds.
References
- Plaques on-site at Nikkô Tôshôgû.[1]
