Two Small Halls Above a River in Kanie
In the flat delta country west of Nagoya, where the Kanie River runs between low banks of rice land, the town of Kanie keeps a shrine that local people call simply Sunari. Its full name is longer: Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine and Hakken-sha, two shrines that share one precinct in the Sunari district. Behind the worship hall stand two main halls side by side, raised on a stone platform and roofed in cypress bark. The one on the right is the main hall of Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine. It is a small building, a single bay across, in the flowing nagare-zukuri form whose front roof slope sweeps down in a long curve over the steps. The hall to its left belongs to Hakken-sha and is wider, three bays, in a related style. Both were built in the Muromachi period, and both were named Important Cultural Properties on the same day in March 1953.
The Tomiyoshi-Takehaya hall is dated to the late Muromachi period, the century or so before 1572. Its scale is modest, but the carpentry is assured: the curve of the bark roof, the bracketing under the eaves, and the carved frog-leg struts that brace the beams. On the neighboring Hakken-sha hall, those struts carry an arabesque pattern that scholars read as an early sign of the richer ornament to come in the Momoyama age. The two halls were given their designation as much for what they preserve of Muromachi shrine carpentry as for any single feature, and the ridge tablets recording their construction were listed in the designation alongside the buildings themselves.
The deities reflect the shrine's layered past. Tomiyoshi-Takehaya enshrines Susanoo, though for most of its history the hall was known as a shrine to Gozu Tenno, the deity of plague and protection from it; the present name dates only from the Meiji reordering of shrines. Hakken-sha holds the spirit of the sacred sword Kusanagi together with the five deities of nearby Atsuta. From the medieval period the shrine served as the tutelary center of the Tomiyoshi estate that once covered this stretch of the delta.
The Hundred-Day River Festival
What carries the shrine's name well beyond Kanie is its festival. The Sunari Festival is the rite of these shrines, a river festival on the Kanie River rooted in the old Gozu Tenno cult and its prayer to drive off epidemic and secure a good harvest. It is famous for its length. Events run from the choosing of the festival children in early summer to the closing rites of autumn, roughly a hundred days in all, which has earned it the local name of the hundred-day festival.
The festival falls into two strands. One is a set of reed rites: reeds cut from the riverbank are enshrined as a sacred body at Tomiyoshi-Takehaya, the year's misfortunes are entrusted to them, and after a long period on the shrine altar they are floated on the river and burned, closing the cycle. The other is the boat festival on the first weekend of August. On the Saturday evening a boat hung with hundreds of paper lanterns moves up the river; on the Sunday morning a decorated festival boat carrying paired deity figures follows, music playing across the water. A drawbridge over the river, the Miyoshi Bridge, is raised to let the boats pass and lowered again, opening only on these two days.
The festival's standing has risen step by step. It was named an Aichi prefectural folk cultural property in 1980, listed as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2012, and in December 2016 inscribed by UNESCO as one of the boat, float, and parade events recognized together as Yama-Hoko-Yatai. A visitor center in the town, opened in 2018, now tells the festival's story year-round for those who come outside the August days.
Founding Legends and How to Visit
The shrine's beginnings are wrapped in tradition rather than record. By the account handed down locally, the monk Gyoki founded it in 733 as the guardian shrine of a temple on this site; Minamoto no Yoshinaka, the warrior known as Kiso Yoshinaka, is said to have rebuilt it in 1182; and Oda Nobunaga is said to have repaired the shrine buildings in 1548. The truth of these claims is not certain. What the documents do show is steady patronage in the warring-states and early modern centuries, including support from Toyotomi Hideyoshi against an outbreak of plague and a stipend granted by the Owari Tokugawa lords in the Edo period. The present halls were conserved in repair campaigns in 1976 and again in the late 1990s, supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the prefecture, the town, and the people of Sunari.
The precinct sits beside the Shingon temple Ryushoin, which by tradition shares the same founding story and holds its own Important Cultural Property, a standing Eleven-Headed Kannon. The two stand within a short walk of each other, and a local guide group leads visitors around both on set days each month. The buildings make a quiet visit for most of the year, the two bark-roofed halls glimpsed behind the worship hall, with the festival's lantern boats kept in mind.
The shrine is in the Sunari district of Kanie, in Ama County, Aichi Prefecture, about fifteen minutes on foot from Kanie Station on the JR Kansai Main Line, and close to the Kanie interchange of the Higashi-Meihan Expressway. The grounds are open and free to walk; the worship hall area beyond the gate may be closed except on festival and ceremony days, so the two main halls are usually viewed from the approach. For anyone timing a visit, the first weekend of August brings the boats and the crowds, while the rest of the year offers the buildings in peace.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Tomiyoshi Takehaya Shrine Main Hall
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- What exactly is the Important Cultural Property here?
- Two main halls in one precinct. The main hall of Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine is a one-bay nagare-zukuri building with a cypress-bark roof, from the late Muromachi period. The neighboring Hakken-sha main hall is a wider three-bay hall of a related style, slightly earlier. Both were designated in 1953, with their ridge tablets included.
- Why is the shrine so well known?
- Mainly for the Sunari Festival, its river festival. It runs about a hundred days from summer into autumn and was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 as part of the Yama-Hoko-Yatai boat and float events. The boats themselves run on the first weekend of August.
- How old is the shrine, and who founded it?
- By tradition the monk Gyoki founded it in 733, with later rebuilding attributed to Minamoto no Yoshinaka in 1182 and repairs to Oda Nobunaga in 1548. These accounts are handed down rather than firmly documented. The surviving main halls themselves are Muromachi-period work.
- Which deities are enshrined?
- Tomiyoshi-Takehaya enshrines Susanoo; for most of its history it was a shrine to Gozu Tenno, the plague deity, and the present name dates from the Meiji period. Hakken-sha enshrines the spirit of the sacred sword Kusanagi together with the five deities of Atsuta.
- How do I get there?
- The shrine is in the Sunari district of Kanie, Ama County, Aichi, about fifteen minutes on foot from Kanie Station on the JR Kansai Main Line. The grounds are free to enter; the area beyond the gate may be closed except on festival and ceremony days, so the halls are usually seen from the approach.
Basic Information
| Name | Main Hall of Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine |
|---|---|
| Location | Sunari, Kanie Town, Ama County, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (designated 31 March 1953; ridge tablets included) |
| Structure | One-bay nagare-zukuri, cypress-bark roof; late Muromachi period |
| Paired hall | Hakken-sha main hall: three-bay nagare misedana-zukuri, cypress-bark roof, also an Important Cultural Property |
| Deity | Susanoo (long known as Gozu Tenno) |
| Festival | Sunari Festival, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage element (2016); boats on the first weekend of August |
| Owner | Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine and Hakken-sha |
| Access | About 15 min on foot from Kanie Station (JR Kansai Main Line) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Main Hall of Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/1272
- Cultural Heritage Online: Main Hall of Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/146471
- Kanie Town Official Website: History and Culture of the Sunari District
- https://www.town.kanie.aichi.jp/soshiki/18/sunari-bunka.html
- Aichi Now (Aichi Prefecture Tourism): Tomiyoshi-Takehaya Shrine and Hakken-sha
- https://aichinow.pref.aichi.jp/spots/detail/1872/
Last verified: 2026.06.24