Zozan Shrine Office

What the Zozan Shrine Office Is

Zozan Shrine Office (象山神社社務所, Zōzan Jinja Shamusho) is the 1938 administrative building on the south side of Zozan Shrine in Matsushiro-machi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.

A shamusho is where a shrine runs its day-to-day business, receives guests and prepares for ceremonies. At 229 square meters, the Zozan Shrine Office is the largest of the six Zozan Shrine buildings registered on the same day.

It faces west on the south side of the grounds, with the saikan to its northeast.

Why the Zozan Shrine Office Was Registered

The Zozan Shrine Office was registered on December 26, 2005 as number 20-0226, under the criterion of buildings that serve as a model of form.

The plan is long and narrow, running north to south. The main block is Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable with a Dōban-buki copper roof. Toward the north end a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled entrance projects, and along the southern half, reception rooms and a formal Shikidai entrance push out to both east and west. Every projection adds another roof junction. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the skill with which these complicated roofs are resolved.

Note that there are two entrances. Besides the gabled one at the north, the southern half has a shikidai, a stepped formal entrance traditionally reserved for receiving guests of rank. The building was evidently meant not only for paperwork but for hospitality.

The walls are Shinkabe, with posts left exposed, and square posts carry Funahijiki bearing blocks, giving a neat, composed exterior. Inside are tatami reception rooms with an alcove and shelves, which the official description calls high-quality work.

Seeing the Zozan Shrine Office

Because the Zozan Shrine Office faces west, the view from the west side takes in the whole building at once: the gabled entrance to the north and the projecting wings of the southern half.

Spend time on the southern roofs. The reception rooms and the formal entrance each bring their own roof into the main hip-and-gable, and several ridgelines meet. This is where the complexity the official description mentions becomes visible.

Under the eaves, a single boat-shaped block sits atop each square post, repeated evenly down the long wall. The building's neatness comes from that rhythm of posts and blocks rather than from ornament.

Visiting the Zozan Shrine Office

No public opening of the Zozan Shrine Office reception rooms is advertised. The exterior can be viewed from the grounds at no charge.

The shrine can be reached by phone at 026-278-2461. Directions and reception hours are on the Zozan Shrine page. This is a working building, so please look quietly from outside.