Imamiya Shrine Ekijinja Main Hall

Home of the plague god behind Imamiya

The Imamiya Shrine Ekijinja Main Hall (今宮神社疫神社本殿, Imamiya Jinja Ekijinja Honden) is a sanctuary of around 1908 standing west of the main hall at Imamiya Shrine in Murasakino, Kita Ward, Kyoto City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2018/03/27. The Ekijinja, also called Ekisha, is dedicated to Susanoo.

This is the shrine within the shrine. According to Imamiya's own history, epidemic gods were worshipped on this spot before Heian-kyo was built, and the rites held to calm them gave rise to Imamiya itself. The Ekijinja festival falls on January 19, and in the April Yasurai Festival the plague spirits gathered in flower-decked parasols are said to come to rest here.

A design by Kameoka Suekichi

The Agency for Cultural Affairs credits the design of the Imamiya Shrine Ekijinja Main Hall, and of the passage hall, gate and corridors in front of it, to Kameoka Suekichi, an architect who worked on the repair of historic temples and shrines and became known for delicate ornament based on medieval models. When the Agency's database speaks of "Kameoka's characteristics", this is the man it means.

The hall is three bays by two under a hip-and-gable roof in copper sheet, with a one-bay canopy at the front. A veranda with upturned railings runs along the front and sides and ends at low side screens, and the outer sanctum is closed by panelled doors and hinged lattice shutters. At 32 square metres it is a little smaller than the main hall beside it.

The interest is in the detail, above all the frog-leg struts called kaerumata. Their forms come from medieval shrine and temple architecture, redrawn in a finer, modern line. The building is registered as a model of design.

What to look for, and visiting

Like the main hall, the Imamiya Shrine Ekijinja Main Hall stands inside the walled inner sanctuary and cannot be approached. Prayers are made at the small cusped gate at the end of its passage hall, and from there you can see the canopy and the layered hip-and-gable roof.

Compare it with the gabled roof of the main hall next door. The kaerumata are some distance away, so binoculars help. Directions and opening hours for the grounds are on the Imamiya Shrine page.