A Great Sutra Hall Left Unfinished
The Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku) is a vast timber hall roofed in formed tiles on Tonooka hill at Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, begun in 1587 and designated an Important Cultural Property on 29 August 1910.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi commissioned it. Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education records that he vowed the building in 1587 so that a reading of a thousand volumes of sutras could be performed once a month, and appointed Ankokuji Ekei to superintend the work. By 1589 the hall was largely complete.
Then it stopped. The prefecture lists the reasons plainly: the campaigns of the Bunroku and Keicho eras, and Hideyoshi's death. The ceiling boards were never fitted and the front staircase was never built. Senjokaku has stood in that state ever since, and the incompleteness is not a defect to be corrected but the condition in which it was designated.
The scale is what registers first. Thirteen bays across the front, fifteen across the back, eight bays deep, a single storey under a hipped-and-gabled roof. Itsukushima Shrine records that a double veranda of camphor timber runs around it. The popular name Senjokaku, the hall of a thousand mats, is an approximation rather than a measurement, but it is not far wrong about the effect.
What an Open Frame Shows You
Because no ceiling was ever installed, the whole roof structure is visible from the floor. That is the reason to come. In a finished hall of this period the carpentry above the tie-beams is hidden; here the beams, the purlins and the rafters are all in the open, and you can follow how a roof of this span is actually held up.
Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education describes the timber scaling as bold, and links it to the temper of the Momoyama period at the end of the sixteenth century. Gold leaf was pressed onto the round eaves-end tiles and the scrolling tiles, a detail easy to miss from below but recorded by the prefecture as evidence of the same taste.
The missing front staircase changes how you arrive. Rather than climbing straight up into the hall on its axis, you come in from the side, and the building opens sideways rather than frontally. Walking the floor of the Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku) is permitted, and the open sides give a view over the roofs of the shrine and out to the water.
From Sutra Hall to Shrine
The building was Buddhist for its first three centuries. Itsukushima Shrine records that in 1872 the spirit of Hideyoshi was enshrined here and the building was renamed Hokoku Shrine, the name being read Hokoku rather than Toyokuni. In 1918 the deity of Hozan Shrine, the spirit of Kato Kiyomasa, was enshrined alongside him.
So the two deities are Hideyoshi and Kiyomasa, both men rather than gods of the older order, and the hall they occupy was built as a place for reading sutras. The Agency for Cultural Affairs still records the building under its shrine name with Senjokaku in parentheses, which keeps both identities in the official record.
The designation of 29 August 1910 covers one building, with two Munafuda recorded as Tsuketari, attached property. The annual festival falls on 18 September. Senjokaku stands immediately beside the five-storey pagoda, and the two share the same terrace.
Visiting the Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku)
This is the one building in this group you can go inside. Opening hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and admission is 100 yen for adults and 50 yen for younger students. Itsukushima Shrine notes that no combined ticket and no group discount apply here, so the fee is the same however you arrive.
Shoes come off at the entrance and the floor is bare timber, which is cold in winter and pleasant in summer. There is no interior lighting to speak of, so the hall is bright on clear days and dim under cloud. Photography is permitted.
Reach it by the stone steps that climb from the shrine exit to Tonooka hill, three or four minutes of uneven treads. Note that the neighbouring five-storey pagoda is under repair into 2027 and is scaffolded, which affects the view from the veranda of Senjokaku. Getting to the island means a ferry from JR Miyajimaguchi Station or the Hiroden stop of the same name, about ten minutes, plus a Miyajima visitor tax of 100 yen per entry collected with the fare.
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Q&A
- Is the name read Toyokuni or Hokoku at the Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku)?
- Hokoku. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the reading as Hokoku Jinja Honden. The building is more often called Senjokaku, its popular name as a sutra hall.
- Why does the Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku) have no ceiling?
- It was never finished. Work begun in 1587 was largely complete by 1589, but the campaigns of the Bunroku and Keicho eras and Hideyoshi's death halted it, and neither the ceiling boards nor the front staircase were ever added.
- How much does it cost to enter Senjokaku?
- 100 yen for adults and 50 yen for younger students, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Itsukushima Shrine states that no combined ticket and no group discount apply.
- Can you walk inside the Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku)?
- Yes. Shoes are removed at the entrance and the bare timber floor is open to walk on. The open sides give a view over the shrine roofs toward the water, and photography is permitted.
- Who is enshrined at the Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku)?
- The spirit of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, enshrined in 1872 when the building was renamed, and the spirit of Kato Kiyomasa, enshrined alongside him in 1918. The annual festival is on 18 September.
Basic Information
| Name | Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall, Senjokaku (厳島神社末社豊国神社本殿（千畳閣）, Massha Hokoku Jinja Honden) |
|---|---|
| Location | Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property. Within the World Heritage site Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
| Year Designated | 1910 (29 August) |
| Quantity | 1 building; 2 ridge tablets as attached property |
| Dimensions | Thirteen bays across the front, fifteen at the rear, eight bays deep, single storey, hipped-and-gabled roof, formed tiles. Vowed 1587, largely complete 1589 |
| Owner | Itsukushima Shrine |
| Public Access | Interior open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Adults 100 yen, younger students 50 yen. No combined ticket or group discount. Miyajima visitor tax 100 yen per entry |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/3181
- Cultural Heritage Online: Itsukushima Shrine Subordinate Hokoku Shrine Main Hall (Senjokaku)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/146878
- Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education, List of Nationally and Prefecturally Designated Cultural Properties (PDF)
- https://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/640309.pdf
- Itsukushima Shrine, Auxiliary and Subordinate Shrines Outside the Precinct
- https://www.itsukushimajinja.jp/jp/setumatusya.html
- Itsukushima Shrine, Opening Hours and Admission
- https://www.itsukushimajinja.jp/jp/admission.html
- Hatsukaichi City, Outline of the Miyajima Visitor Tax
- https://www.city.hatsukaichi.hiroshima.jp/soshiki/110/59551.html
Last verified: 2026.09.08