Kenkun Shrine Offering Hall

An 1884 Kitchen Hall Facing the Sanctuary

Kenkun Shrine Offering Hall (建勲神社神饌所, Takeisao Jinja Shinsensho) is a single-storey timber hall for preparing food offerings, standing south of the lattice fence around the main hall on the summit of Mount Funaoka in Kita-ku, Kyoto City; it was built in 1884, moved to its present site in 1910, and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 18, 2008. A shinsensho is where shinsen, the food and drink presented to the gods at a ceremony, is made ready.

Its date sets it apart. The main hall, worship hall, norito hall, corridor and guest house all come from the construction of 1880; the Offering Hall was built four years later, in 1884, and is the only 1884 building among the eleven registered structures. It was moved up the hill in 1910 with the others.

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a good example of its type. Its building area is 52 m².

Kitchen, Board Room and Tatami Room in a Row

The Kenkun Shrine Offering Hall has an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof in Hiwadabuki cypress bark, with its ridge running east to west. It is 5 bays long and 3 bays deep. With the ridge running east to west, the long sides face north and south, and the front is on the north, toward the main hall.

Inside, three rooms follow one another along the length of the building: at the east end an earth-floored area with a kitchen, in the middle a board-floored room, and at the west end an eight-mat tatami room. All three have a Saobuchi-tenjō batten ceiling. The entrance is through double hinged doors into the earth-floored east end, and Mairado sliding doors line the side facing the veranda.

Earth floor, then boards, then tatami: going west, the floor finish becomes more refined room by room. The official description does not say how each room was used, but the plan clearly puts the cooking area at the east end and the tatami room at the west.

Facing the Main Hall

The Kenkun Shrine Offering Hall sits just south of the lattice fence around the main hall. It stands off the east to west line of the shrine buildings, but its front is turned toward the sanctuary: the building that prepares the offerings faces the deity who receives them.

Its roof is cypress bark, like the main hall and worship hall, even though it is an ancillary building. By contrast the storehouse and office, also support buildings, are tiled.

From outside, locate the double doors at the east end and the row of sliding doors along the veranda, and the order of the three rooms inside becomes easy to picture.

Visiting the Kenkun Shrine Offering Hall

The Kenkun Shrine Offering Hall is a working ritual building and its interior is not open. You see it from the grounds south of the lattice fence. On festival days it is in use for preparing offerings, so keep your distance then.

The shrine does not forbid personal photography, but drones and commercial shoots need permission. Directions to the shrine and general visiting conditions are covered on the Kenkun Shrine page.