Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha

What the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha is

The Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha (續麻・今井（兼平）神社神明社, Tsūso Imai (Kanehira) Jinja Shinmeisha) is a miniature shrine in the precinct of Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine in Imai, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, thought to date from 1780 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 31, 2022.

With a footprint of 1.5 square meters it is both the smallest and the oldest of the four registered buildings in the precinct. Matsumoto City says its date was estimated from its style and its munafuda, the builders' ridge tablet.

The sources disagree on the roofing. The structure field of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' database and Matsumoto City both give sheet iron, while the Agency's descriptive text says copper sheet. The city adds that the original roofing material, thatch or boards, is not known. The building is a one-storey timber structure.

A shrine moved twice

The Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha has traveled more than any other building in the precinct. The Agency's database records a repair in 1841 and two moves, in 1915 and 1947.

Matsumoto City fills in the story. The Shinmeisha first stood on a site of its own. In 1915 it was merged into Tsuso Shrine and moved onto that shrine's grounds, and when Tsuso Shrine and Imai (Kanehira) Shrine merged in 1947, it came to the present site along with the Tsusosha.

Today the building is empty. Its deities are now enshrined in the Kanehirasha. According to the city, the ridge tablet of 1947 suggests that a Hōsōsha, a shrine against smallpox, and a Sengensha had also been merged into it, and a small miniature sanctuary (kūden) inside is thought to be the Sengensha's. Layer upon layer of shrine mergers are preserved inside this tiny building.

Why the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha was registered

The Shinmeisha was registered in the 103rd round as number 20-0610, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. Matsumoto City notes that although it no longer houses a deity, it is well preserved, keeps its original form, and records the shrine's history.

It is a one-bay sanctuary in the mise-dana-zukuri style, built like a small shelf-front stall, under a gabled roof entered on the long side. A shelf projects at the front. The round posts are cut to an octagon below the floor. Beams and purlins carry short struts that support the ridge, and the eaves are simple boards. The front has latticed doors, and the interior is divided into an inner and an outer chamber holding the miniature sanctuary. The Agency calls it a plain, unpainted shrine of straightforward design.

What to look for on the Shinmeisha

The best comparison is with its neighbors. The Kanehirasha and the Tsusosha fill their porches with carving, while the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha is bare, unpainted wood, its beams, purlins, struts and board eaves forming the whole design. With an 18th-century shrine standing beside two carved 19th-century sanctuaries, you can see in one glance how decoration changed over time within the same one-bay type.

Look low as well. The octagonal posts below the floor are easy to miss unless you are looking for them, and the front shelf and latticed doors are the marks of a mise-dana shrine.

Seeing the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Shinmeisha

The Shinmeisha stands to the left of the sacred enclosure, south of the Kanehirasha. No opening of the interior has been announced, so the miniature sanctuary inside cannot be seen; the building is viewed from the outside.

Matsumoto City's materials say nothing about photography. The shrine is low, so avoid touching it when you crouch to see the bases of the posts. Directions and visiting conditions for the precinct are on the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine page.