What the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine Is
The Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine (瀧川家住宅祠, Takigawake Jūtaku Hokora) is a small stone shrine in the hamlet of Suzawa, Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 9 February 2005. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records its footprint as 0.1 square metres. Something a person could lift with both arms is, under Japanese law, a registered building.
A Hokora is a miniature shrine, usually built to hold a single image and usually standing outdoors rather than inside a religious compound. This one occupies the western end of the long, narrow terrace on which the Takigawa residence sits. The main house (registration number 23-0183) and the gate (23-0184) take the eastern and southern parts of the site, and the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine stands alone at the opposite edge, under number 23-0185. All three entered the register on the same day, in the 45th round.
The dating deserves a caveat. The Agency for Cultural Affairs enters the date as Daiei 5, with relocation in Taishō 15, and gives the Western equivalents as 1525 and 1926. Its period column, however, reads "Edo." Daiei 5 falls in the Muromachi period, well before the Edo period began, so the two columns disagree. Shinshiro City also gives 1525 and a move in 1926. This article follows the date column and flags the inconsistency rather than resolving it.
Carved, Not Assembled
The shrine rests on a plinth of undressed stones piled up in place. The shrine itself divides into three parts, base, niche and roof, and each part is carved from a single block. Nothing is jointed together; each element is cut away from solid stone. Shinshiro City identifies the material as Kurose stone, quarried locally.
The roof is the surprising part. It takes the form of a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof, but the surface is given a Teri-mukuri profile, dipping into a concave sweep toward the eaves and swelling convex near the ridge, with a small undulating Noki-karahafu gable over the front. These are techniques from timber roof carpentry, transposed into stone at a scale of 0.1 square metres.
The front doors are hinged to open outward in a pair, and they too are stone. Behind them, an image is carved into the back of the niche. Here the sources part company. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says only "a Buddhist image." Shinshiro City calls it a Kannon Bosatsu. Tradition, meanwhile, holds that what is enshrined here is the Yakushi Nyorai of the mountain temple Hōrai-ji, and the Agency reports this as hearsay rather than fact. The carved figure and the figure said to be enshrined do not obviously match, which is a question worth taking to the site.
Why It Was Registered
The Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine was registered under the criterion "contributing to the historical landscape of the nation," the same criterion applied to the gate. The main house was listed under a different one, as a model of design.
The landscape criterion fits this object because of where it came from. According to Shinshiro City, the shrine originally stood on the bank of a paddy field in front of the residence, where it served as guardian of the farmland, and it was moved to its present position only in 1926. A stone that watched over rice became part of a household compound. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as an element without which the residence would be incomplete.
Chronology makes the point sharper. The main house dates from 1814 and the gate from 1763, while the shrine is recorded at 1525, more than two centuries earlier than either. The smallest of the three registered structures is also the oldest.
One clarification on terms. Registered Tangible Cultural Property status, introduced in 1996, operates by notification rather than permission, and differs from the older system, which works by designation. The Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine is registered, not designated.
Visiting
The Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine sits on the grounds of a private home. Neither the Agency for Cultural Affairs database nor Shinshiro City's cultural property pages record any public opening, and its position at the far western edge of the site puts it well inside private ground. Any request to see it should go to the Shinshiro City Board of Education, History and Culture Division, on 0536-23-7610 (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.).
The same applies to photography. The shrine is small enough that its detail only reads from close up, but it is not an object to trespass for. Photograph the site from the public road and leave it at that.
The nearest station is Ōmi on the JR Iida Line, about 1.5 kilometres away in a straight line, with an uphill walk of roughly 30 minutes. Shinshiro Station on the same line is about 6 kilometres off.
Shinshiro City's community bus, the S-Bus, reaches the Tōgō district that includes Suzawa on its Tōgō line. It runs on weekdays only, with no service on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, or over the New Year. From 6 April 2026 parts of the route became on-demand and require a booking by 4 p.m. the previous day. Check the city's timetable and reservation zones first. No visitor parking appears in any published source.
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Questions and Answers
- How big is the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a footprint of 0.1 square metres. It is built of stone, with the base, the niche and the roof each carved from a single block, and it ranks among the very smallest structures on the register.
- What image is enshrined in the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine?
- A Buddhist figure is carved into the back of the niche. Shinshiro City describes it as a Kannon, while tradition holds that the deity enshrined is the Yakushi Nyorai of Hōrai-ji temple. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records only "a Buddhist image," so the accounts differ.
- How old is the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine?
- It is recorded as dating from 1525 and was moved to its present position in 1926. Note that the Agency for Cultural Affairs enters the period as "Edo," which does not match a date of 1525, a Muromachi period year.
- Where did the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine originally stand?
- Shinshiro City records that it stood on the bank of a paddy field in front of the residence, acting as guardian of the farmland, until it was moved in 1926 to the western edge of the house grounds where it stands today.
- Can the Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine be visited?
- It stands on private residential grounds and no public opening is documented. Do not enter without permission. Enquiries about viewing should go to the Shinshiro City Board of Education, History and Culture Division on 0536-23-7610.
Basic Information
| Name | Takigawa Family Residence Hokora Shrine |
|---|---|
| Location | 4 Nakagaya, Suzawa, Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 9 February 2005 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Stone construction, area 0.1 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual (no owner name recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | No public opening documented. On private residential grounds; confirm viewing with the Shinshiro City Board of Education, History and Culture Division (0536-23-7610) |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Takigawa Family Residence Hokora
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004581
- Shinshiro City: Takigawa Family Residence
- https://www.city.shinshiro.lg.jp/kanko/minzokugeino/takigawake.html
- Aichi Prefecture Cultural Property Navigator: Takigawa Family Residence Main House, Nagayamon Gate and Hokora
- https://www.pref.aichi.jp/kyoiku/bunka/bunkazainavi/yukei/kenzoubutu/kunitouroku/1202-1204.html
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Takigawa Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004579
- Shinshiro City: S-Bus Tōgō Line
- https://www.city.shinshiro.lg.jp/kurashi/kokyo-kotsu/s-bus/togosen.html
Last verified: 2026.09.01