Tamayorihime Shrine Munakatasha Main Hall

What the Munakatasha Main Hall Is

Tamayorihime Shrine Munakatasha Main Hall (玉依比賣命神社宗形社本殿, Munakata-sha Honden) is a miniature shrine sanctuary built in 1693 for the Munakatasha, a subsidiary shrine in the eastern part of the grounds of Tamayorihime Shrine in Tōjō, Matsushiro-machi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014.

It is the oldest of the four registered buildings at Tamayorihime Shrine. The date given by the Agency for Cultural Affairs is precise, the sixth year of Genroku, which is unusual among the four; the others are placed within a range of decades.

It is also tiny. The recorded building area is 0.5 square meters, about the size of a small desk. The Tamayorihime Shrine Munakatasha Main Hall does not stand in the open: it sits inside a larger thatched building that serves both as its worship hall and as its shelter, and it faces south.

Registered as a Model of Form

The Tamayorihime Shrine Munakatasha Main Hall was registered on December 19, 2014 as number 20-0463. Of the four buildings at the shrine, it is the only one registered under the criterion of serving as a model of form; the other three were registered for their contribution to the landscape.

The official description explains why in a single line: a small shrine, but built with the full bearing of a proper main hall. Scale is not the measure here. Every element a full-size honden would have is present, cut down and fitted together with care.

A Full-Size Honden in Miniature

The Munakatasha Main Hall is a one-bay Nagare-zukuri shrine, the ikkensha form, with the front slope of the roof extended to cover the steps. The roof is Kokerabuki, layered shingles of thin split wood, the same covering recorded in the national database.

A veranda runs around three sides, closed at the back ends by Wakishōji, the small side screens that stop a veranda short of the rear wall. At the front are wooden steps and a Hamayuka, the low platform at the foot of the steps.

Every post is square in section. On the core, the moya, the brackets are Mitsudo-gumi, three bearing blocks on an arm. The front aisle uses a linked version of the same bracket, renmitsudo, in which neighboring sets share their outer blocks. Between the brackets sits a Kaerumata, the frog-leg strut that fills the gap over the beam. In the gable is a Kōryō tie beam supporting a Taiheizuka, a vase-shaped strut.

Put that list beside the main hall of Tamayorihime Shrine, which uses the plainest bearing blocks on its core, and the smaller building turns out to be the more elaborately made. The carpenters of 1693 gave the Munakatasha the complete vocabulary.

Seeing the Munakatasha Main Hall

The Tamayorihime Shrine Munakatasha Main Hall stands in the raised back room of its shelter, behind a lattice. The front of the shelter is open, so it can be seen through the lattice from in front; entry is not advertised.

Light inside the shelter is limited. Let your eyes adjust, then look for the frog-leg strut over the front beam and the shingled edge of the roof, the two details that read best at a distance. Bring patience rather than a flash.

No photography rule is published; please be discreet if anyone is praying. Directions are on the Tamayorihime Shrine page.