Nanasho Shrine Main Hall

A Small, Finely Built Shrine Hall

The Nanasho Shrine Main Hall (七所神社本殿, Nanasho jinja honden) is the early Taisho-period main hall of Nanasho Shrine in Kasadera-cho, Minami Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018, under registration number 23-0524. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey timber building with a cypress-bark roof and a building area of 4.0 square metres.

According to Minami Ward, Nagoya, the shrine takes its name from the seven deities it enshrines, including Yamato Takeru and Susanoo. It is said to have been founded in 940 by inviting the gods of Atsuta to pray for the defeat of Taira no Masakado.

Why It Was Registered

The hall was registered in 2018 as a model of design. According to the Agency, it stands near the centre of the precinct facing south: a one-bay nagare-style hall with a cypress-bark roof, verandas on the front and sides closed by side screens, and steps and a lower platform at the front.

The Agency praises its carefully made details, small though it is, including brackets of five bearing blocks set on stacked arms and a wave-carved frog-leg strut at the centre of the front. A hall of just 4.0 square metres concentrates the craft of Taisho-era shrine carpenters.

What to Look For

Look at the bracketing: above the three-block bracket, another arm carries five blocks in a row, an elaborate arrangement for so small a hall (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

At the centre of the front sits a frog-leg strut carved with waves. The precinct also has a memorial to the kagura musicians who handed down the authentic Atsuta kagura tradition (Minami Ward).

Visiting

The main hall stands near the centre of the precinct and can be seen from outside when visiting. Nanasho Shrine is at 12 Tenma, Kasadera-cho, Minami Ward, Nagoya, and Minami Ward includes it in its walking route around the old Tokaido.