The year was 1735, and on the plains of Menuma in present-day Saitama Prefecture, master builder Hayashi Masakiyo was going from village to village assembling a group of top-class carpenters, engravers, painters and other artisans.

Having gathered his team together, 60-year-old Hayashi may well have addressed them with a rousing speech on the lines of: "These are hard times, and despite all your skills and expertise, I know there is less and less work for you every day. Here in Menuma, though, after 15 years in which I have been working out the plans, it's time to build the most extravagant and decorative temple ever. So let's all pull together and show what we can really do!"

In fact, that major project was no less than a reconstruction of the main building of Kangiin Shodenzan Temple, which was founded in 1179 by Lord Saito Betto Sanemori to enshrine the Buddhist god, Shoden.