Lit. guest hall. A building constructed in one of three residential styles: *shoin-zukuri 書院造; *shinden-zukuri 寝殿造; or shuden-zukuri 主殿造; or a mixture of these styles. It functioned as a reception hall or guest hall. Originally, it accommodated members of the imperial family and noblemen and was also called, at that time, kyakutei 客亭, but by the 16th century the term was applied strictly to a guest hall at temples. It is often difficult to make a clear distinction between kyakuden and *hōjō 方丈, the residence for the head priest at a Zen sect, Zen temple. The Kyakuden at Onjōji Kangakuin 園城寺勧学院 (1600) in Shiga Prefecture, is a 7 × 7 bay, single story building with an entrance on the gable end. The roof is hip-and-gable *irimoya-zukuri 入母屋造. On the front facade there is an undulating gable *karahafu 唐破風. It contains nine rooms arranged in three rows, one behind the other, with three rooms in each row. Unlike the Kōjōin Kyakuden 光浄院客殿 (1601), also at Onjōji, there is no doorway *chōdaigamae 帳台構え behind which warriors were positioned ready to protect visitors from intruders. The other examples extant are at Gokokuji *Gekkōden 護国寺月光殿 (late 16th century), which originally belonged to Onjōji and became the Nikkōin Kyakuden 日光院客殿, and Kongō Sanmaiin Kyakuden 金剛三昧院客殿 (early 17th century) Wakayama Prefecture.