Founded in 1945, Kobayashi Kougei is a workshop and manufacturer specializing in wooden architectural models. We handcraft and sell model kits that faithfully reproduce traditional Japanese shrines, temples, castles, retro Showa-era buildings, and more, in a variety of scales.

Every pillar, roof, and component is meticulously handcrafted from wood, capturing even the smallest details of shrine, temple, and Showa-era architecture. At scales from 1/40 to 1/100, the precision is so high that each pillar is assembled individually.

Currently, the only products available for overseas shipping are the 1/70 scale Five-Story Pagoda of Horyu-ji Temple and the 1/70 scale Kinkaku-ji Temple, but we plan to expand this selection in the future. We invite you to enjoy the unique textures of different woods, such as Hinoki cypress and Yakusugi cedar, as well as the natural deepening of their color over time.

Models created with traditional craftsmanship and careful attention to materials are highly appealing, both as decorative items and as assembly kits. We hope you will take one in hand and enjoy the experience.

Horyu-ji Temple, the oldest surviving temple in Japan, is said to have been founded by Prince Shotoku and has a history of more than 1,200 years.

The Western Precinct, centered on the Golden Hall and the Five-story Pagoda, is famous as the oldest wooden building in the world. In addition, excellent Buddhist statues marking the beginning of Japanese sculpture history, such as the Shaka Triad and the Yakushi Nyorai statue enshrined in the Golden Hall, as well as the Guze Kannon statue in the Yumedono Hall, remain to this day.

The village of Ikaruga, where Horyu-ji Temple is located, lies in the northwest corner of the Yamato Plain. Ikaruga has long been a key transportation route connecting Osaka through the valley of the Yamato River.

The Five-story Pagoda of Horyu-ji Temple is considered the oldest and most beautiful of the many pagodas still in existence. This is because the spacing between the pillars gradually narrows from the first floor to the upper floors, the roofs also become smaller in moderate proportion, and the entire structure is roughly contained within an isosceles triangle.

Like the Kondo, it stands on a double base, with a total height of 32.45 meters, one-third of which is the spire. The first floor has a regular room, and from the second floor upwards there is a balustrade with a manji pattern.

Material : Japanese Cypress (Hinoki)

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Rokuon-ji Temple, where the Golden Pavilion is located, was built in 1397 in Kitayama, Kyoto, by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi period. The vast garden is filled with trees and a strolling pond, and the gorgeous building on its shore, with exterior walls covered in gold leaf, is known as the Golden Pavilion.

The Golden Pavilion is a three-story structure: the first floor in the Shinden-zukuri style of the Fujiwara period, the second in the Buke-zukuri (samurai residence) style of the Kamakura period, and the third in the Zen-style Buddhist hall, a creative blend of architectural styles from each era. This type of tower architecture, where visitors climb to the upper floors to enjoy the view from above, is said to have been modeled after the upper pavilions and mountain gates built in the abbot’s quarters of Zen temples. The current Golden Pavilion was rebuilt in 1955.

Material : Yakusugi (ancient cedar).

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