Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Gokoku Shrine Main Hall

A Memorial Shrine Facing the Approach

Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Gokoku Shrine Main Hall (榊山八幡神社護国神社本殿, Sakakiyama Hachiman Jinja Gokoku Jinja Honden) is the sanctuary of a gokoku shrine for the war dead within the grounds of Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine in Mitsu, Akitsu-cho, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture; built around 1953, it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 3, 2020, under registration number 34-0277, the newest of the six registered structures in the precinct.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a small shrine honoring villagers who died in war. The local tourism association says this Akitsu Gokoku Shrine enshrines the spirits of 581 war dead.

It stands beside the approach, just short of the worship hall. Every other shrine building here faces south, but the Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Gokoku Shrine Main Hall faces east, turned toward the path, as if addressing worshippers from the side on their way up. The Agency records it as a single-storey timber building with a copper-sheet roof and a building area of 7.3 square metres.

A Small Nagare Shrine Carved With Chrysanthemums

The form is Nagare-zukuri, one bay across the front and two bays deep, under a copper roof. A veranda runs across the front and both sides, closed at its ends by low screen walls, with a lower Hama-en deck in front.

The sanctuary posts are round and tapered at the ends, the chimaki treatment, with a head beam around their tops carrying three-bearing Kumimono brackets. The front doors are framed panel doors, and both they and the Kaerumata struts are carved with chrysanthemum crests. The chrysanthemum is closely associated with the imperial house, and here the ornament can be read as reflecting the character of a gokoku shrine, which honors the war dead as having given their lives for the nation.

The tapered posts, head beam and three-bearing brackets almost exactly match the Matsuo Shrine main hall in the same grounds, built around 1929. Some 24 years later, a second small shrine in the same vocabulary was added. The difference lies in where each puts its emphasis: the Matsuo Shrine shows off the arc of its curved beams, while the Gokoku Shrine shows its chrysanthemums on the front, each given a face suited to the deity it serves.

The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs recognizes the building for shaping the scenery along the approach. With the Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Gokoku Shrine Main Hall included, the precinct can now be read as a continuous sequence from an 18th-century gate to a small shrine of the postwar years.

What to Look For

Step off the approach to face the front and look at the chrysanthemums on the doors and the kaerumata. The petals are finely cut and change with the angle of the light. Since the shrine faces east, its front is lit in the morning.

Walk to the side for a clear view of the tapered posts, the head beam and the bracket sets. On a shrine of just 7.3 square metres, the builders still ran the veranda around three sides and finished its ends with screen walls.

It is worth comparing with the Matsuo Shrine main hall: the posts and brackets are shared, but the ornament falls in different places.

Visiting the Gokoku Shrine

The Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Gokoku Shrine Main Hall stands beside the approach, and its exterior can be seen from the grounds. The interior is not open. Remember that this is a memorial to the war dead, and pay your respects quietly.

There is no published photography policy. Photographing the exterior is within ordinary etiquette, but refrain during memorial ceremonies and ask the shrine office if in doubt.