Izumo Daijingu Shrine Office

What the Shrine Office Is

The Izumo Daijingu Shrine Office (出雲大神宮社務所, Izumo Daijingū Shamusho) in Chitose-cho, Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, is the shrine's administrative building, completed in 1931 and registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021.

It is single-storey timber roofed in pantiles (Sangawara-buki) and covers 182 square meters, making it the largest of the twelve registered structures.

The Izumo Daijingu shrine office stands on the west side of the approach, before the worship hall. The shrine says it handles all business other than the rituals themselves, and its counter is where amulets and talismans are handed out.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Izumo Daijingu shrine office as solid and dignified. It is registered as No. 26-0620 under the historic-landscape criterion.

It was the first of the early Showa buildings at the shrine, followed by the middle gate and norito hall and then the corridors, and it shapes the view that greets worshippers along the approach.

Staggered Rooms and Chrysanthemums

The core of the Izumo Daijingu shrine office runs east to west under a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) roof. A wing projects at right angles to the north and another juts out to the west, so the roofs step and overlap.

The tatami rooms are set in a staggered, diagonal line, a layout Japanese builders compare to geese in flight, with a railed veranda (Kōran) around them. The sliding doors are Mairado, with fine horizontal slats.

Above the lintels, frog-leg struts (Kaerumata) carry chrysanthemum crests, borrowing a detail from shrine architecture for an office building.

Visiting the Shrine Office

Visitors use the counter of the Izumo Daijingu shrine office, but the tatami rooms are not open. From the approach you can take in the stepped roofs; the chrysanthemum struts are best seen by looking up from near the veranda.

Counter hours are given on the Izumo Daijingu Shrine page.