Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine

Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine, the guardian shrine of Kami-Imai

Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine (續麻・今井（兼平）神社, Tsūso Imai (Kanehira) Jinja) is the tutelary shrine of the Kami-Imai district of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and its four buildings, put up between 1780 and 1859, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 31, 2022.

The long name is a record of a merger. Two village shrines, Tsuso Shrine and Imai (Kanehira) Shrine, were combined in 1947, and the precinct kept both names. The first character, 續, is the older form of 続, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs reads the name as Tsūso. Matsumoto City's notes also refer to the two main sanctuaries as Tsuso Shrine and Kanehira Shrine.

According to the city, Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine watches over the six hamlets of Kami-Imai and was ranked as a village shrine (sonsha) in 1872. The grounds lie near the middle of the settlement, surrounded by a grove of tall trees.

A site linked to the warrior Imai Kanehira

The place name Imai is said to come from Imai Shirō Kanehira, whose mother nursed the warlord Kiso Yoshinaka and who stayed at Yoshinaka's side to the very end. Local tradition places Kanehira's residence on the grounds of Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine. The Otsu City Museum of History sums up his career: he fought beside Yoshinaka from the uprising of 1180, and when Yoshinaka was killed at the Battle of Awazu in 1184, Kanehira took his own life straight afterward. His grave stands just north of JR Ishiyama Station in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. Readers of The Tale of the Heike will know the scene.

Inside the precinct Kanehira is enshrined in the Kanehirasha, which also received the deity Hondawake (Emperor Ōjin) in 1740. The Tsusosha enshrines the goddess Takuhatachijihime. The Agency for Cultural Affairs, in its 2022 recommendation papers, describes the site as a shrine to Imai Kanehira into which the Tsusosha was merged.

How the four buildings came together

Before the 1947 merger, the present grounds belonged to Imai (Kanehira) Shrine alone. Tsuso Shrine stood elsewhere, and its main sanctuary, the Tsusosha, was moved here from the old site as part of the merger. Matsumoto City reports that the kagura hall came from the old Tsuso Shrine grounds at the same time.

The Shinmeisha traveled further. It was merged into Tsuso Shrine in 1915 and moved onto that shrine's old grounds, then moved again to the present site in 1947. Its deities are now enshrined in the Kanehirasha, and the Shinmeisha stands empty.

The four buildings were entered together in the 103rd round of registration as numbers 20-0608 (Tsusosha), 20-0609 (Kanehirasha), 20-0610 (Shinmeisha) and 20-0611 (kagura hall). The two carved main sanctuaries qualified as structures that would be difficult to reproduce, while the Shinmeisha and the kagura hall were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. In its recommendation of July 22, 2022, the Council for Cultural Affairs singled out the Tsusosha and the Kanehirasha as examples of the distinctive, refined carved shrines of the Matsumoto Basin.

Layout of the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine precinct

Following Matsumoto City's description, you pass through the torii and reach the kagura hall first, with a treasure house and the shrine office beside it. Beyond stands the worship hall, and behind it a sacred enclosure holds the main sanctuaries. Facing the enclosure, the Kanehirasha is on the left and the Tsusosha on the right, and the Shinmeisha stands to the left of the enclosure. Since the Agency places the Tsusosha north of the Kanehirasha and the Shinmeisha south of it, the sanctuaries face east.

The buildings differ greatly in size. The Agency's database gives a building area of 53 square meters for the kagura hall, against 4.4 for the Kanehirasha, 4.1 for the Tsusosha and only 1.5 for the Shinmeisha. The worship hall is not part of the registration. How each building can be seen is covered on its own page.

Visiting Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine and getting there

Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine is a community shrine, and neither the city nor any official notice sets visiting hours or an admission fee. The main sanctuaries sit inside the enclosure behind the worship hall and are viewed from outside it; no opening of the interiors has been announced. The city notes that the autumn festival, when five lanterns are raised, is still held with great energy.

No railway station is within walking distance. The nearest, Hirooka Station on the JR Shinonoi Line, is about 4 kilometers away in a straight line, Matsumoto Station about 11 kilometers, and Shinshu Matsumoto Airport about 3 kilometers. City buses on the Airport-Imai Line from Matsumoto Bus Terminal run to Shimo-Imai six times on weekdays and do not enter the Imai area on weekends and holidays (timetable revised March 14, 2026). The walking route from the Shimo-Imai stop to the shrine could not be confirmed from official sources, so a car or taxi is the realistic choice. No parking for visitors is advertised.