Gongen-zukuri

What gongen-zukuri is

Gongen-zukuri joins the main hall and the worship hall of a shrine into a single building by means of a connecting chamber between them. The three parts form one continuous structure rather than separate buildings.

Kunozan Toshogu in Shizuoka Prefecture, whose buildings include work of 1647, is recorded as an Important Cultural Property whose detailed description states that the shrine was built as the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who died in 1616, and that thirteen structures are designated, among them the main sanctuary in this form comprising hall, connecting chamber and worship hall.

The connecting chamber sits lower than the halls on either side, and its Japanese name records that its floor was originally paved in stone. Worshippers enter the worship hall and address the main hall across it.

The name of the form comes from the title given to Ieyasu, which rests on the idea of a buddha appearing in the form of a kami. The form therefore belongs to the world of Shinbutsu-shūgō.

How records treat it

Shrines of this kind run to many structures. At Kunozan thirteen are designated including the main sanctuary. Hall, chamber and worship hall form one building, but the Insū may be counted together or separately depending on the entry.

The same description notes that the offering hall built at the same period forms part of the precinct with these buildings and is of high historical value, standing east-facing below the steps before the main hall and connected to the chamber by a stepped corridor. The chamber also serves as the point where other buildings join.

On site, look between the two halls. A lower roof spanning between them, with passage from one to the other inside, indicates this form. Halls standing apart with nothing between them belong to another.