Nagata Shrine Lattice Wall and Gate

The openwork wall around the main hall

Nagata Shrine Lattice Wall and Gate (長田神社透塀及び門, Nagata Jinja Sukibei oyobi Mon) is the 1928 openwork wall and rear gate enclosing the main hall of Nagata Shrine in Nagatacho, Nagata Ward, Kobe, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 14, 2002. It has copper roofing and a building area of 49 square meters.

The wall begins at the two music pavilions behind the worship hall and wraps the main hall on the east, west and north. On the south the pavilions and the worship and offering halls close the gap, so wall and buildings together seal off the sanctuary.

Why the Nagata Shrine Lattice Wall and Gate was registered

Registered as a model of form under number 28-0081, the wall runs 8 ken along each of the east and west sides and 10 ken along the north, under a small gabled roof, braced by buttress posts. The lower part is boarded; the upper part is open slatwork. That combination is what makes it a Sukibei: a wall that closes off sacred ground while letting you glimpse what lies inside.

There are three openings. Small wicket doors sit near each music pavilion, and in the center of the north side is a rear gate of the Munamon type, with a copper gabled roof and a span of 7 shaku 5 sun.

What to look for at the Nagata Shrine Lattice Wall and Gate

Go around either side of the worship hall and follow the wall with your eye: a long horizontal band of boards and slats under a miniature roof, running at a steady height beneath the big roof of the main hall. Through the slats you may glimpse the Amaterasu and Hachiman shrines and the edge of the main hall's veranda. Notice too how the wall springs directly from the music pavilions, and how the rear gate lines up on the main hall's axis.

Visiting the Nagata Shrine Lattice Wall and Gate

The area inside the Nagata Shrine Lattice Wall and Gate is sacred ground, and ordinary visitors may not enter; the wicket doors and rear gate are not visitor routes. You view the wall from outside, along the paths east and west of the worship hall. Access and general visiting details are on the Nagata Shrine page.