Sansho Shrine (Honjima)

About Sansho Shrine

Sansho Shrine stands on Honjima in the Shiwaku Islands, Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture; its main sanctuary of 1830 and worship and offering hall of 1897 were registered as two Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on October 31, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

According to the Kagawa Prefectural Ports Division, Honjima, 11 kilometres north of Marugame Port, is the central island of the Shiwaku Islands and was once the base of the Shiwaku seafarers. Their skill at sea made them official shipmen to the Tokugawa shogunate, and in 1860, 35 Shiwaku men crewed the Kanrin Maru on the first Japanese crossing of the Pacific.

Two Buildings

The main sanctuary is a one-bay nagare-style building with hongawara tiles on a two-tier stone base, with a railed veranda; its intricate, lively carvings show the skill of the Shiwaku carpenters. The worship and offering hall, three bays wide with a hip-and-gable roof, layers a triangular gable and a cusped-gable canopy at the front and joins the sanctuary through the offering hall behind; it is valued as a work from the last years of the Shiwaku carpenters (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Both were registered as structures that would not be easy to reproduce (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting and Location

No public access information has been confirmed, so please respect worshippers. The address is 635 Honjima-cho, Marugame City; Honjima is reached by boat from Marugame Port (Kagawa Prefectural Ports Division).