Nagaoka Butsudan

The triple roof

The signature of a Nagaoka altar is its mitsu-yane, or triple-roofed, kuden inner shrine: a double roof of curved and triangular gables with curved side roofs on both sides. Altars of the Higashi Honganji style usually have two roofs and the Nishi Honganji style one; Nagaoka's three blend both. The base and body come apart, so after 30 to 100 years an altar can be re-lacquered and restored. It is made in Nagaoka, Ojiya and Tokamachi in Niigata.

Five independent crafts

• The wooden body is built, often of zelkova; the finer the grain, and the more round tamamoku figure, the better.
• Figures and birds are carved.
• Metal fittings are made.
• The altar is lacquered with natural urushi and gold-leafed; makers say the lacquer is the life of an altar, since any flaw shows under the gold.
• Maki-e is added. Each of the five crafts is done by its own independent master.

Winter work of temple builders

Around the 17th century, temple carpenters, sculptors, carvers and lacquerers came from all over Japan to build temples and shrines around Nagaoka, and made altars as winter side work. By the early 19th century it was a local industry: the Nagaoka domain protected Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, households began enshrining memorial tablets at home, and demand grew. In 1999 a compact, furniture-style Nagaoka altar won first prize for new design at a national exhibition.