Imamiya Shrine Worship Hall

An open dance hall at the centre of the grounds

The Imamiya Shrine Worship Hall (今宮神社拝殿, Imamiya Jinja Haiden) is a worship hall of 1694, altered in 1846, standing before the offering hall of Imamiya Shrine in Murasakino, Kita Ward, Kyoto City, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2018/03/27. It is the first building you face after passing through the Tower Gate.

The year 1694 marks the major rebuilding of the shrine sponsored by Keishoin, the shogun's mother. The fire of 1896 destroyed the main sanctuary behind it, but the Imamiya Shrine Worship Hall survived, keeping a piece of that Genroku-era rebuilding at the heart of the grounds. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the core of the shrine's main axis.

Three bays square, with a wide central opening

The hall is three bays by three under a hip-and-gable roof in copper sheet. It has no walls; like a maidono, or dance pavilion, it is open on all four sides, with a veranda and upturned railings running round it. At 52 square metres it is large for a shrine worship hall.

The central bay on the front is widened to nearly twice the normal span, so the hall presents a broad opening to anyone approaching from the gate. Simple boat-shaped brackets sit on the posts, the ceiling is coffered, the eaves have two layers of widely spaced rafters, and the gables are filled with a lattice of crossed battens.

The shrine's website notes that plaques of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets hang in the hall. Because the building is open, they and the coffered ceiling can be seen from outside.

What to look for, and visiting

The Imamiya Shrine Worship Hall is visible from almost anywhere in the grounds and you can walk all the way round it. You cannot step up onto the floor, but its openness lets you see the ceiling and framing from outside.

Stand in front to take in the width of the central bay, then move to the side for the lattice gable. The hall sits on the path to the offering hall, so keep the way clear for worshippers when taking photographs. Directions are on the Imamiya Shrine page.