Aoba Shrine Main Hall

The Main Hall of Date Masamune's Shrine

The Aoba Shrine Main Hall (青葉神社本殿) is a shrine main hall of 1924 in Aoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 29, 2019 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber hall roofed in copper sheet, with a building area of 50 square metres; registration number 04-159.

A Three-Bay Nagare-Style Hall with a Front Chamber

The Aoba Shrine Main Hall is the central building of the shrine dedicated to Date Masamune, standing behind the worship hall inside an enclosure of openwork fence (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a three-bay Nagare-zukuri hall with a front chamber, roofed in copper sheet, with a one-bay Kōhai porch at the front and a veranda on all four sides.

The bracket sets are simple three-block brackets, with plainer block-and-arm brackets under the hisashi, the front extension of the roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The shrine describes the hall, completed in 1924, as a broad three-bay nagare-style building that takes in traditional design with skill.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes that the Kibana beam ends are geometric in design while the Kaerumata frog-leg struts in the central bay of the hisashi and on the porch follow medieval forms, and calls the Aoba Shrine Main Hall a modern main hall that reassembles traditional types and ornament with skill. It was registered as a model of design. Miyagi Prefecture singles out the same mix of old and new.

What to Look For

Compare the beam ends with the frog-leg struts (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The beam ends are built up from straight lines, a modern touch, while the struts in the central bay and on the porch copy medieval shapes, so old and new ornament share one building.

The middle gate and prayer recitation hall stand directly in front, so the worship hall, the gate and the main hall line up on a single north-south axis (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The frog-leg struts of the gate echo those of the main hall.

Visiting

The Aoba Shrine Main Hall is enclosed by the fence, and worship takes place in front of the worship hall. The exterior is seen over the fence; no official information on entering the enclosure was found. Directions and visiting conditions for the precinct are on the Aoba Shrine page.