Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Tsusosha

What the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Tsusosha is

The Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Tsusosha (續麻・今井（兼平）神社續麻社, Tsūso Imai (Kanehira) Jinja Tsūsosha) is a main sanctuary of 1859 in the precinct of Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine in Imai, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 31, 2022.

Before 1947, when Tsuso Shrine and Imai (Kanehira) Shrine were merged, this was the main sanctuary of Tsuso Shrine. It was moved from the old Tsuso Shrine grounds as part of the merger and now stands behind the worship hall, on the right-hand side of the sacred enclosure, next to the Kanehirasha. It enshrines the goddess Takuhatachijihime, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs' 2022 recommendation papers call it the sanctuary of the local guardian deity.

Matsumoto City says the date of construction is known from the building's style and from its munafuda, the ridge tablet left by the builders. The Agency's database also records a repair in 1935 and the move in 1947. The Tsusosha is a one-storey timber building with a copper-sheet roof and a footprint of just 4.1 square meters. The roof is thought to have been finished in wooden shingles (kokerabuki) originally.

Why the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Tsusosha was registered

The Tsusosha was entered in the 103rd round of registration as number 20-0608, under the criterion for structures that would be difficult to reproduce. Of the four registered buildings in the precinct, only the Tsusosha and the Kanehirasha qualified on those grounds.

It is an ikkensha Nagare-zukuri sanctuary, one bay wide, whose front roof slope sweeps forward over the steps. The eaves use two tiers of closely spaced rafters. A kirime-en veranda runs along three sides and ends at wakishōji, short screen walls at the rear corners, while steps and a low platform (hamayuka) lead up to the front. Inside, the sanctuary is divided into an inner and an outer chamber, and the walls are made of horizontal boards dropped into grooved posts. Matsumoto City notes that the building is well preserved and keeps its original appearance.

The Council for Cultural Affairs, in its recommendation of July 22, 2022, held up the Tsusosha and the Kanehirasha as examples of the distinctive, refined carved shrines of the Matsumoto Basin, decorated with carving of outstanding skill. The photograph printed with the recommendation shows the Tsusosha in front and the Kanehirasha behind it.

What to look for on the Tsusosha

The carving is concentrated on the kōhai, the porch roof that projects over the steps. The curved tie beams that link the porch to the body of the sanctuary, known as ebi-kōryō or shrimp beams, are bent unusually sharply, and the Agency singles out this curve. It reads best from the side.

At the front of the porch, the beam spanning the two pillars and the tebasami brackets that fill the angle between pillar and purlin are richly carved. One of the photographs the Agency chose at registration shows the kibana, the carved beam ends projecting from the pillar heads.

The front doors are latticed and incorporate seigaiha, the pattern of overlapping semicircular waves. The neighboring Kanehirasha makes its statement with a stacked karahafu and chidori-hafu gable on the roof, whereas the Agency's description of the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Tsusosha mentions no gable at all. Compare the two roofs, then compare how much of the carving each building gathers onto its porch, and the difference between the sanctuaries becomes clear.

Seeing the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine Tsusosha

The Tsusosha stands behind the worship hall, on the right (north) side of the sacred enclosure. Visitors view it from outside the enclosure, and no opening of the interior has been announced. Because the building is so small, the curve of the shrimp beams and the carved brackets are easiest to follow by looking at the porch at an angle from outside the enclosure.

Matsumoto City's materials say nothing about photography rules. This is the sanctuary of a community's guardian deity, so take care not to get in the way of worshippers or festival rites. Directions and visiting conditions for the precinct are on the Tsuso Imai (Kanehira) Shrine page.