Tamateyori Matsurikitaru Sakatoke Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse

A Medieval Storehouse on Mount Tenno

The Tamateyori Matsurikitaru Sakatoke Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse (自玉手祭来酒解神社神輿庫) is the storehouse for the portable shrine (mikoshi) of Sakatoke Shrine on Mount Tenno in Oyamazaki Town, Otokuni District, Kyoto Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on April 30, 1921. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Kamakura period (1275 to 1332). It stands beside the main sanctuary (Oyamazaki Town).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as three bays by two, of log construction, single-storey, gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) with a hongawara tile roof. It is owned by the shrine.

The Oldest Shrine in Otokuni

According to Oyamazaki Town, Sakatoke Shrine is the tutelary shrine of the Oyamazaki area and, listed in the Engishiki, the oldest shrine in the Otokuni district. Before the Edo period it was called Tenjin Hachioji-sha and worshipped Gozu Tenno, from whom Mount Tenno takes its name.

The town notes that the main sanctuary dates from the late Edo period and is a registered cultural property (Oyamazaki Town).

Why It Was Designated

The Sakatoke Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1921. Oyamazaki Town and the Kyoto Prefecture Tourism Federation describe it as a rare itakura-style store built of thick squared timbers stacked together, and the town calls it the oldest of its kind in Japan.

What to Look For

The Sakatoke Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse is three bays by two, gabled with a heavy hongawara tile roof, its walls built up of thick squared timbers (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Oyamazaki Town). The stacked-timber walls carry the weight of the tiled roof.

It was built to house the shrine's mikoshi and stands next to the main sanctuary (Oyamazaki Town); seen together, the two show the store's place in the shrine's festivals.

Visiting Sakatoke Shrine

According to the Kyoto Prefecture Tourism Federation, the shrine is open every day and free to visit. It is about a 45-minute walk up Mount Tenno from JR Yamazaki Station or Hankyu Oyamazaki Station. The address is 46 Tennozan, Oyamazaki, Oyamazaki Town; enquiries to the Oyamazaki Town tourism section (075-956-2101).