Shikinen sengū

What shikinen sengū is

Shikinen sengū is the rebuilding of a shrine at fixed intervals and the transfer of its sacred object to the new hall. The practice at Ise is the best known.

Cultural property records meet it when tracing where a retired hall went. The main hall of Ubushina Shrine in Kagawa Prefecture, built in 1953, is described as the sanctuary of a subsidiary hall of the Outer Shrine at Ise built for the rebuilding of that year, dismantled and granted away at the next: three bays by two, Kirizuma-zukuri, with a copper roof imitating thatch, no veranda, and Munamochi-bashira, billets and finials, a proper hall in Shinmei-zukuri preserving the old technique of posts set into the ground.

Granting away is the formal term for passing a retired hall to another shrine, where it is taken down, moved and reassembled.

The main hall of Oka Shrine in Shiga Prefecture, from the early Meiji period, is said to have been received from Ise at the rebuilding of 1889 and re-erected on its present site in 1892.

Reading the record

A hall moved in this way carries two dates, one for construction and one for re-erection. Ubushina was built in 1953 and moved in 1976; Oka was built in the early Meiji period and moved in 1892. That is why two years appear in the date field.

A system built on periodic renewal fits the technique of setting posts directly in the ground. Such posts rot, but rot does not matter where the building is replaced on a schedule, which is the point behind the record's praise for preserving that technique.

When writing, distinguish a hall granted from Ise from one a shrine built for itself. The description will say so if it applies.