One Shrine, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2022
Nakanobo Inari Shrine (中之坊稲荷社, Nakanobo Inarisha) stands at 1263-11 Moto-Taimagata, Taima, Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture, an Edo-period structure entered on the register of tangible cultural properties on 17 February 2022. It is a registered property rather than a designated one.
The quantity is one building. The owner is the religious corporation Nakanobo.
The structure is timber, single-storeyed, roofed in cypress bark, with a floor area of 1.4 square metres. The date field reads Edo and the year field 1830 to 1868.
A Shrine of 1.4 Square Metres
As a building, it is very small.
The Agency records it as a shrine one bay wide, hip-and-gabled, entered from the long side and roofed in cypress bark. A one-bay shrine has a single opening between the posts of its front.
Its floor area is 1.4 square metres, less than a single tatami mat.
The privy at the Tani Yutaka residence covers 7.0 square metres, and the guard's hut at the Akagi residence 6.0 square metres.
This is under a quarter of either: the smallest registered building met so far.
Cypress-bark roofing is laid in layers of the bark of Japanese cypress. A small shrine is given a roofing material of high standing.
A Small Work, Rich in Ornament
The assessment grants the smallness and then names the ornament.
The Agency closes that, with colour applied over the whole of its frame, it is a small work yet rich in ornament.
The smallness is granted first; the richness of decoration is then set out.
At the Misaka tunnel the plainness of the portals is granted before the value is stated; the Obaraya oil storehouse is called closed but carefully made.
Here what is granted is size, and what is named is abundance of ornament.
At the Ohashi Saryo front gate, plainness itself is the merit. Here, the other way about, richness of ornament is the merit.
Two Kinds of Gable on the Roof, Brackets in Two Steps
A small shrine is packed with details of the kind found on large temples and shrines.
The Agency records double rafters set close, a dormer gable on the front, and a cusped gable over the porch.
A dormer gable is a small triangular gable set on the roof slope; a cusped gable rises in the middle and curves up at both ends. The porch projects from the front to shelter worshippers.
The brackets, it continues, project in two steps, with notched arms, angle rafters, and the ends of the porch tie-beam carved in waves.
Two kinds of gable on the roof, brackets stepped out twice, beam ends carved as waves, and colour over the whole: this much care is given to a building of 1.4 square metres.
The Tani Yutaka privy, at 7.0 square metres, is called refined in the tea-house manner. That one is decorated with lightness, this one with splendour.
Visiting
The shrine stands at 1263-11 Moto-Taimagata, Taima, Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture, owned by the religious corporation Nakanobo.
The Agency records it as the guardian shrine standing in the north-west corner of the precinct of Nakanobo, a sub-temple of Taimadera. A guardian shrine enshrines the deity who protects a temple's grounds: a shrine to a god within a Buddhist temple.
The study hall and garden of Nakanobo are separate cultural properties from this shrine.
It lies within a temple precinct, so viewing hours and terms follow the owner's arrangements. Check before travelling.
The date field reads 1830 to 1868, the later part of the Edo period.
Q&A
- When was the shrine registered?
- On 17 February 2022, as a registered tangible cultural property. It is registered rather than designated, and the quantity is one building.
- How large is it?
- A one-bay shrine with a floor area of 1.4 square metres.
- What is valued in it?
- That, with colour over the whole of its frame, it is a small work yet rich in ornament.
- What is notable about the roof?
- Hip-and-gabled in cypress bark, with a dormer gable on the front and a cusped gable over the porch.
- Where does it stand?
- In the north-west corner of the precinct of Nakanobo at Taimadera, as its guardian shrine.
Basic Information
| Name | Nakanobo Inari Shrine (中之坊稲荷社, Nakanobo Inarisha) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1263-11 Moto-Taimagata, Taima, Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered tangible cultural property (structure, religious architecture); registered rather than designated |
| Year Designated | 2022 (17 February), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storeyed, roofed in cypress bark, with a floor area of 1.4 square metres. A one-bay hip-and-gabled shrine entered from the long side, with double close-set rafters, a dormer gable on the front and a cusped gable over the porch; brackets in two steps and colour over the whole frame. The date field reads Edo and the year field 1830 to 1868 |
| Owner | Religious corporation Nakanobo |
| Public Access | Within a temple precinct; viewing follows the owner's arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the shrine
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/554445
- Taimadera Nakanobo: guide to the precinct
- https://www.taimadera.org/guide/1/index.html
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
- Katsuragi City
- https://www.city.katsuragi.nara.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.22