Zozan Shrine Ema Hall

What the Zozan Shrine Ema Hall Is

Zozan Shrine Ema Hall (象山神社絵馬殿, Zōzan Jinja Emaden) is an open-sided 1938 pavilion at Zozan Shrine in Matsushiro-machi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.

Ema are the small wooden plaques on which worshippers write wishes and thanks, and an ema hall is where they are hung. The Zozan Shrine Ema Hall doubles as a rest shelter, and most of its sides are left open. Its footprint is 50 square meters.

It stands in the middle of the grounds, slightly to the west, facing east, near the treasure hall, which faces the same direction.

Why the Zozan Shrine Ema Hall Was Registered

The Zozan Shrine Ema Hall was registered on December 26, 2005 as number 20-0224, under the same criterion as the treasure hall: contribution to the historic landscape.

The official description calls it a simply built ema hall that also serves as a rest area. It is not a building that draws attention through ornament. Its role in the landscape lies in being part of the 1938 plan as a place where visitors pause and sit in the middle of the precinct.

The record disagrees with itself about the roof. The structure field in the national database gives steel sheet, while the description on the same page says copper sheet. Settling it would take a look on site, so both entries are given here.

Seeing the Zozan Shrine Ema Hall

The Zozan Shrine Ema Hall is an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable pavilion on a low base, with square posts carrying Funahijiki bearing blocks.

Look up at the eaves. The builders used projecting beams, known as degeta, cantilevered out beyond the line of posts to push the roof edge well forward. On a wet day you can stand under it and read the plaques without getting rained on.

Around the sides, only the lower wall and the band just below the eaves are boarded; everything in between is open. With so little wall, the post-and-beam frame is on full view.

Walk round to a gable end and you will see a Kitsure-goshi, a fine grid of crossed battens filling the triangle of the hip-and-gable roof and adding a layer of shadow to an otherwise plain building.

Visiting the Zozan Shrine Ema Hall

The exterior of the Zozan Shrine Ema Hall can be viewed freely at no charge. The official description treats it as an open rest shelter, but for sitting under the eaves or photographing the plaques, follow any notices posted on site.

The shrine offers ema for academic success, general wishes and thanks for passing exams. Directions and reception hours are on the Zozan Shrine page.