A Storehouse Painted in Two Colours
Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse, in the precincts of Ubushina Shrine in the town of Utazu, Kagawa Prefecture, was built around 1934 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on 28 April 2010.
The building holds the mikoshi, the portable shrines carried through the streets once a year at the autumn festival. For the rest of the calendar they wait inside. The plan is long and narrow, 9.6 metres by 4.8 metres, a dimension arrived at by lining the palanquins up side by side. Floor area is 52 square metres.
It stands south of the shrine's main hall and faces north. Walking up from the approach towards the sanctuary, you catch a white wall on a lower terrace to the right.
Black Below, White Above
Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse is Dozo-zukuri, a thick-walled earthen storehouse of one storey, roofed Kirizuma-zukuri in Hongawarabuki tiling and raised on a stone plinth.
The wall finish is what holds the eye. The lower band is rendered in black mortar; everything above it is white Shikkui plaster. The division between the two is sharp. Rendering the base dark and hard is a practical answer to splashing rain and soiling, but the by-product is a horizontal band that makes the long plan read even longer.
Inside, the space is partitioned into two rooms, and each doorway carries its own small gabled canopy of copper with a gently swelling curve. An earthen storehouse is built to be shut and to protect, and its exterior tends towards the severe. These two canopies work against that severity, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes precisely this effect in its description.
The canopy roofs bow outward in a soft convex line. Against the straight run of the main gable, two small curves repeat. The device is modest and it does a great deal.
Before and After the Festival
As the autumn festival approaches on the fourth Saturday and Sunday of October, the doors of Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse are opened and the palanquins are brought out through the two entrances that stay shut the rest of the year. Visit while preparations are under way and the reason for the building's dimensions and its position becomes concrete.
At other times it is a quiet storehouse. Facing north, the front receives no direct sun, and the white plaster holds an even light across its whole surface. Follow the line where black meets white as you walk along it and you will notice the stone plinth changing height to take up the fall of the ground.
Heavy tiles above, light copper on the canopies: two roofing materials on one small building, worth going close to confirm.
Visiting
The precincts cost nothing to enter. The interior of Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse is not normally open, but the exterior can be viewed head-on and photographed freely. If the doors are open for festival preparations, watch from a position that does not get in the way of the work.
Utazu Station on the JR Yosan Line is about 15 minutes on foot, and parking is available in the grounds. Festival dates can be confirmed by telephoning the shrine office on 0877-49-0805.
Standing south of the main hall, the storehouse is easy to walk past if you keep straight up the approach. Look right, to the lower terrace, partway up the steps.
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Q&A
- What is kept in Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse?
- The portable shrines carried at the annual festival. The interior is divided into two rooms.
- When was Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse built and registered?
- Around 1934, and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2010, under number 37-0363.
- What is distinctive about the exterior of Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse?
- A two-tone wall of black mortar below and white plaster above, a tiled gable roof, and small copper canopies over each of the two doorways.
- When are the doors of Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse opened?
- Around the autumn festival on the fourth Saturday and Sunday of October, when the portable shrines are taken out and returned.
- Where is Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse?
- South of the shrine's main hall, facing north, on a lower terrace to the right partway up the stone steps.
Basic Information
| Name | Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 1644-1 Nishimachi and adjoining lots, Utazu, Ayauta District, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration no. 37-0363 |
| Year Designated | Registered 28 April 2010 (Heisei 22) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 9.6 metres by 4.8 metres, floor area 52 square metres |
| Owner | Ubushina Shrine (religious corporation) |
| Public Access | Precincts free of charge. Exterior viewable, interior not normally open |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Ubushina Shrine Portable Shrine Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008195
- Ubushina Shrine guide leaflet (Town of Utazu)
- https://www.town.utazu.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/1448.pdf
- Ubushina Shrine, Utazu Sanpomichi (Town of Utazu)
- https://sanpomichi.town.utazu.lg.jp/spot/entry/old/007499/
- Ubushina Shrine (Utazu Tourism Association)
- https://utazu-kanko.jp/tourism/ubushina-shrine
Last verified: 2026.09.08