Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Main Hall

A 1907 Sanctuary on the Highest Terrace

Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Main Hall (榊山八幡神社本殿, Sakakiyama Hachiman Jinja Honden) is the principal sanctuary of Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine in Mitsu, Akitsu-cho, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture; it was built in 1907 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 3, 2020, under registration number 34-0273.

The honden, the building that houses the kami, stands at the far north end of the precinct on the highest terrace, facing south. At the foot of the stone steps in front of it is the worship hall and offering hall, built the same year, and a gate and wall enclose the main hall on all four sides. Climbing the approach, you meet the worship hall first; the Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Main Hall waits behind and above it, inside the wall.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey timber building with a copper-sheet roof and a building area of 22 square metres. It was repaired in the early Showa period, though published sources do not say how extensively.

Gables and Carving on a Small Plan

The plan is three bays square, under an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof. A triangular Chidori-hafu gable sits on the front slope, and below it a one-bay Kōhai porch projects under a curved Noki-karahafu eave gable. Seen head-on, the triangle and the bow are stacked one above the other, giving a building of only 22 square metres a surprisingly weighty face.

The eaves took real effort. The Kumimono bracket sets step out once from the posts, a type called degumi, and the rafters run in two closely spaced tiers. The curved boards between bracket tiers (Shirin), the beam ends projecting from the porch posts, and the frog-leg struts called Kaerumata are all carved. A veranda runs around all four sides, with a lower deck, the Hama-en, across the front.

Compare it with its neighbors and you see a clear ladder of ornament. The offering hall behind the worship hall uses plain boat-shaped bracket blocks and a single tier of rafters. The worship hall adds three-bearing brackets and carved frog-leg struts. The Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Main Hall climbs a rung higher with projecting brackets and double rafters. Within one campaign of 1907, the builders spent the most effort on the building closest to the deity.

The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the hall's solid, dignified build on a hill above the sea, and from the top of that hill it anchors the whole group of shrine buildings.

What to Look For

Start with the roofline. The chidori-hafu triangle, the karahafu curve and the line of the eaves between them give the front three distinct outlines. The copper roof has weathered to green, which stands out sharply against a clear sky.

Then look under the eaves. The carved beam ends on the porch posts and the kaerumata between the brackets are where the carvers put their best work. From below, the double rafters read as a fine two-row stripe. Because the hall faces south, the front is lit from morning to midday, when the relief of the carving is easiest to follow.

Notice the hamaen as well: on the Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Main Hall this lower platform in front of the veranda is where offerings are set out and rites are performed before the sanctuary.

Visiting the Main Hall

As the dwelling of the kami, the Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine Main Hall is closed inside, and because the gate and wall enclose it, visitors stay outside the wall. From in front of the worship hall the main hall is hard to see squarely; the layered roof is easier to take in at an angle, from beside the stone steps or along the outside of the wall.

The shrine has not published a photography policy. Photographing the exterior from the grounds falls within ordinary visitor etiquette, but check with the shrine office before photographing a ceremony or anything inside the wall.