A Roof With No Second Example in Japan
The Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall is a three-bay nagare-zukuri hall with a board roof standing in Omoto Park southwest of the shrine at Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, built in 1523 and designated an Important Cultural Property on 18 February 1949.
The roof is the reason to make the walk. Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education calls it an unusual long-board covering, known from medieval picture scrolls but without a surviving parallel, and describes the building as the only one in Japan roofed in the six-layer, three-course method. Itsukushima Shrine uses the local name for it: Omoto-buki, the Omoto thatch.
What that means in practice is worth seeing from below the eaves. Instead of the thin split shingles or bark strips used almost everywhere else on Miyajima, long boards are laid six deep and stepped in three courses, producing a roof surface that is thick, slightly irregular and far heavier in shadow than a bark roof. Standing at the foot of the steps you can count the layers at the eaves edge.
Beneath the roof the form is conventional: Nagare-zukuri, three bays wide, with the front slope extended forward over the approach. Three inner shrines stand within, and a worship hall sits in front of the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall.
Older Than the Building It Sits In
The designation of 18 February 1949 covers one building. Three inner shrines and two inscribed tablets are recorded as Tsuketari, attached property, and the inner shrines are themselves small nagare-zukuri structures with shingled roofs and open shelf fronts.
One of them carries an ink inscription dated 1443, eighty years before the hall around it. Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education notes this plainly and adds that the carving of the building is thought to be reused from a predecessor. So the 1523 date fixes the frame, not the contents, and parts of an earlier shrine were carried into it.
Both the prefecture and Itsukushima Shrine record a tradition that Omoto is older in its foundation than the main shrine on the shore. The shrine adds that it has long been held to be the deity of the land itself, or the former site of the main shrine. These are traditions rather than documented history, and the sources present them as such, but they explain why a small hall a fifteen-minute walk from the crowds carries a designation at all.
Omoto Park, and What Happens in January
The setting does much of the work. Omoto Park is a grove of pine and maple on the shoreline south of Daiganji, quiet at almost any hour, with deer grazing between the trees. The Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall stands back from the water on a low platform, and there is usually nobody else in front of it.
The deities enshrined are Oyamatsumi, Ukemochi and Kunitokotachi. Itsukushima Shrine records that Omoto and Nagahama Shrine face one another across the water and form the two wings of the main shrine, and that during the Kangensai festival on the seventeenth day of the sixth lunar month rites are performed and court music played on the boats offshore before both of them.
The annual festival falls on 20 January. Known as Momotesai, it centres on a demon-shooting rite, and the offerings include hohan, a cooked dish rather than the raw food usually presented. It is one of the few occasions when the hall has a crowd in front of it.
Seeing the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall
The hall stands outdoors in a public park and can be approached at any hour without a ticket. Photography from the approach is unrestricted. The interior is not open, and the inner shrines are not visible from outside.
From the shrine exit, walk west past Daiganji, continue along the shore past the aquarium turning, and follow the road into the park; it takes about fifteen minutes at an easy pace and the ground is level almost the whole way. Because the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall lies outside the paid precinct, it can be visited before the shrine opens or after it closes.
Reaching the island means a ferry from JR Miyajimaguchi Station or the Hiroden stop of the same name, about ten minutes across. Hatsukaichi City levies a Miyajima visitor tax of 100 yen per entry, collected with the fare, with a 500 yen annual option. If you also want the shrine buildings, admission is 300 yen for adults.
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Q&A
- What is special about the roof of the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall?
- It uses a long-board covering laid six layers deep in three courses. Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education describes it as the only building in Japan roofed this way, known otherwise only from medieval picture scrolls.
- How do you get to the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall?
- Walk west from the shrine exit past Daiganji and along the shore into Omoto Park, about fifteen minutes on level ground. It is roughly twenty-five minutes from Miyajima pier.
- Is there an admission charge for the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall?
- No. It stands in a public park outside the paid precinct and can be approached at any hour. The interior is not open.
- Which deities are enshrined at the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall?
- Itsukushima Shrine records Oyamatsumi, Ukemochi and Kunitokotachi. The shrine is also held by tradition to be the deity of the land, or the former site of the main shrine.
- When is the festival at the Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall?
- 20 January, the Momotesai, built around a demon-shooting rite with cooked offerings called hohan. Rites are also held offshore before the hall during Kangensai in the sixth lunar month.
Basic Information
| Name | Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall (厳島神社摂社大元神社本殿, Sessha Omoto Jinja Honden) |
|---|---|
| Location | Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property. Within the World Heritage site Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
| Year Designated | 1949 (18 February) |
| Quantity | 1 building; 3 inner shrines and 2 inscribed tablets as attached property |
| Dimensions | Three-bay nagare-zukuri, board roof laid six layers deep in three courses, 1523. Inner shrines: one-bay nagare-zukuri with open shelf front, shingled |
| Owner | Itsukushima Shrine |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable free of charge at any hour in Omoto Park. Interior closed. Miyajima visitor tax 100 yen per entry |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/3182
- Cultural Heritage Online: Itsukushima Shrine Auxiliary Omoto Shrine Main Hall
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/202109
- 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, Access
- https://www.itsukushimajinja.jp/jp/access.html
- Hatsukaichi City, Outline of the Miyajima Visitor Tax
- https://www.city.hatsukaichi.hiroshima.jp/soshiki/110/59551.html
Last verified: 2026.09.08