Nishinomiya Shrine Bronze Bell House (Former Lantern Shelter)

A Delicate Shelter Now Housing the Ebisu Bell

The Nishinomiya Shrine Bronze Bell House (Former Lantern Shelter) (西宮神社銅鐘舎（旧燈籠覆屋）) is a small timber shelter built in 1904 at Nishinomiya Shrine in Shakecho, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, which in 2025 was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey timber structure with a copper roof and an area of 3.2 square metres; it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

The Agency describes it as a shelter built to display a lantern, standing on the west side of the approach in the middle of the grounds.

Structure

According to the Agency, it is one bay square with a gently curved gabled copper roof, set on a stone base in the style of a platform. Square posts with lintels carry the beams on carved boat-shaped brackets.

All four sides have diamond lattices, with fine slatted transoms above. The Agency calls it delicate and carefully made.

What to Look For

The shrine notes that the shelter now covers the Nishinomiya Ebisu Bell, a city-designated cultural property 130 centimetres tall, given to the shrine in the year after Katagiri Katsumoto oversaw its rebuilding in 1609 at the wish of Toyotomi Hideyori.

The bell can be seen through the diamond lattices.

Visiting

The bell house stands on the west side of the approach and can be seen from outside.

The shrine's history, the layout of the grounds, directions and opening hours are on the Nishinomiya Shrine group page.