Asakura Shrine Main Hall (Kochi)

An Early Edo Shrine Hall Rebuilt by the Lord of Tosa

The Asakura Shrine Main Hall (Kochi) (朝倉神社本殿) is the main hall of Asakura Shrine at the south-east foot of Mount Akaoni in Asakura, Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, rebuilt in 1657 by Yamauchi Tadayoshi, second lord of the Tosa domain, and designated an Important Cultural Property on February 18, 1949. It lies about 1 kilometre north-west of JR Asakura Station (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Kochi City).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as three bays by two, single-storey, gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri), with a one-bay porch, a cusped karahafu on the eaves and a shingle roof. It is owned by Asakura Shrine (Kochi City).

An Ancient Shrine and Its Rebuilding

According to Kochi City, Asakura Shrine is an ancient shrine mentioned in a surviving fragment of the Tosa provincial gazetteer and listed in the Engishiki register. Its founding is unknown, but the present hall was rebuilt by Yamauchi Tadayoshi in 1657, with work starting on the 16th day of the 2nd month and finishing in the 8th month.

Kochi City notes that although the records date the rebuilding to 1657, its style and techniques are said to be older, perhaps because Tosa was remote and new fashions from the capital reached it late.

Why It Was Designated

The Asakura Shrine Main Hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1949. The Kochi Prefectural Board of Education describes its unusual form, a gabled hall with a one-bay porch under a cusped karahafu, and praises its well-ordered techniques, sober and archaic carving and skilful colouring as a refined building.

The outer sanctum and exterior are painted throughout, making it a building of unmatched splendour in the prefecture (Kochi Prefectural Board of Education).

What to Look For

The Asakura Shrine Main Hall is a three-bay gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) hall with a one-bay porch under a karahafu gable. The ridge carries three free-standing chigi finials and five katsuogi billets. A veranda runs round three sides, five wooden steps with sloping rails rise at the front, and all the posts are round (Kochi City).

Inside, the hall is divided along the central row of posts into inner and outer sanctums, and the ceiling, partitioned into three by beams, is painted with celestial musicians and dancers (Kochi City). The prefectural board notes the graded colours on brackets and beam ends, rich polychrome on frog-leg struts and brackets, paintings on side panels and walls, lacquered rails and fittings, and gilded metal ornaments throughout.

Visiting Asakura Shrine

The Asakura Shrine Main Hall stands in the grounds of Asakura Shrine. We found no official information on viewing the interior. The location is Asakura, Kochi City; enquiries to the Kochi City cultural properties section (088-832-7277). Kochi City published a repair report on the hall in 1993 (Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties report database).