Tsushima Shrine Romon Gate

A Well-Balanced Gate of the Momoyama Period

The Tsushima Shrine Romon Gate (津島神社楼門) is a two-storey gate said to have been given by Toyotomi Hideyoshi of 1592 in Shinmeicho, Tsushima City, Aichi Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on May 14, 1958 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a two-storey gate three bays wide with one passage, under a hip-and-gable roof of cypress bark; designation number 01428.

A Well-Proportioned Gate

According to the Aichi Prefecture tourism site, Tsushima Shrine is said to have been founded in 540; revered as a Tenno shrine alongside Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, it is the head of more than 3,000 Tsushima shrines across Japan. The Owari Tsushima Tenno Festival, one of Japan's three great river festivals, is held on the fourth Saturday of July and the following day.

The gate was built around 1590 and is a well-proportioned two-storey gate three bays wide with one passage (Agency for Cultural Affairs); the Agency record dates it to 1592. The Aichi site says it was given by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency describes it as a well-proportioned gate at a shrine whose main hall was already designated.

What to Look For

Look for the balanced form of the gate under its cypress-bark roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Tsushima Shrine (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the Aichi Prefecture tourism site, prayers are received from 9:00 to 16:00; it is 17 minutes on foot from Meitetsu Tsushima Station or 15 minutes by car from Yatomi IC on the Higashi-Meihan Expressway, with parking for 60 cars to the south and 40 to the east; tel. 0567-26-3216. The main hall and the two-storey gate are introduced together on the Tsushima Shrine page.