Rikyu Hachimangu Shrine Main Hall

The Hall at the End of the Axis

Rikyu Hachimangu Shrine Main Hall (離宮八幡宮本殿, Rikyū Hachimangū Honden) is the 1928 main sanctuary of Rikyu Hachimangu in Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2013.

It is a modest building: a single-storey timber hall with a copper-plate roof and a building area of 25 square metres. The form is sangensha Nagare-zukuri, three bays across the front, with the front slope of the roof drawn out long and low over the approach. Within the grounds it closes the central axis, standing directly behind the worship hall, which stands behind the middle gate. A lattice fence wraps its sides and back.

The shrine enshrines Emperor Ojin, worshipped as Hachiman, in the central sanctuary, with Sakatoke no Okami to the left and the three Hime goddesses to the right. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the building to 1928; the shrine's own history places the rebuilding in 1929.

Why It Was Registered

The Rikyu Hachimangu Shrine Main Hall was registered as a model of form. What the Agency singles out is how thoroughly the design follows medieval precedent, down to the Kaerumata bracket blocks and the carved beam-ends known as kibana.

The plan makes the point. The hall is split into an inner sanctum and an outer chamber. The inner sanctum opens to the front through three plank doors; the outer chamber has no doors or walls along its front at all. A veranda runs round the front and both sides and stops at the rear posts against low screen walls called wakishoji. Each of these is a convention of medieval shrine building, and the Showa carpenters observed every one.

There is none of the layered carving and colour that Edo-period builders loved. Ornament is held to a few points and the hall earns its dignity through correct form. The same restraint runs through the worship hall, the middle gate and the Kotengu Shrine, which is why the precinct reads as one composition.

What to Look For

Start with the front. Three plank doors, three enshrined deities. Because the open outer chamber sits in front of them, the doors appear set back in shadow behind the veranda.

The copper roof sweeps forward in the long nagare curve. It was among the roofs repaired in the Heisei-era renovation, for which groundbreaking took place in 2009.

Walk round to the side and you can see the veranda end at the wakishoji instead of continuing across the back, a detail invisible from the front.

Visiting the Main Hall

The interior of the Rikyu Hachimangu Shrine Main Hall is not open, and visitors cannot go inside the lattice fence. From the front of the worship hall, where people pray, the main hall is mostly hidden. For a proper look, walk along the outside of the fence and view it from the side; the diamond lattice is open enough to show the veranda and screen walls.

No published restriction on photographing the exterior could be found, but hold off during ceremonies and while others are praying, and follow any signs on site. Directions and general visiting conditions are covered on the Rikyu Hachimangu page.