Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall

What Is the Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall?

The Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall (大神神社摂社大直禰子神社社殿, Ōmiwa Jinja Sessha Ōtataneko Jinja Shaden) in Miwa, Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, is a former Buddhist hall whose inner sanctum survives from the Nara period and whose outer worship space dates from the early Kamakura period; it was designated an Important Cultural Property on August 2, 1901.

Until the early Meiji era the building was the main hall of Daigorinji, the Buddhist temple attached to Omiwa Shrine. Today it is the sanctuary of Ōtataneko Jinja, an auxiliary shrine (sessha) of Omiwa Shrine also called the Wakamiya. Its deity, Ōtataneko no Mikoto, is described by the shrine as a descendant of the great deity of Miwa. A note on the name: the shrine reads it "Ōtataneko," while the Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives "Ōtadaneko." This article follows the shrine.

Why the Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall Is Designated

The national database assigns the Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall to the middle Muromachi period, and in its date field records "Nara (inner sanctum), early Kamakura (outer sanctum)." In other words, a Nara-period hall forms the core, an outer worship space was added in the early Kamakura period, and the building took the shape it keeps today in the mid-Muromachi period. Three eras layered within one building is what makes it stand out.

The hall is five bays by five bays, with a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) roof of full ceramic tiles (Hongawarabuki). The Agency classifies it as a temple building rather than a shrine. That is visible at a glance: most shrine buildings are roofed in cypress bark or copper, not heavy tile.

Inside, the Wakamiya deity and a statue of the Eleven-Headed Kannon were once enshrined together. The building's own history records the long era of Shinbutsu-shūgō, when Shinto deities and Buddhas were worshipped side by side. After the Meiji-era separation of Shinto and Buddhism, the Kannon statue was moved to Shorinji, a temple elsewhere in Sakurai.

What to Look For at the Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall

Pass through the torii and a broad tiled hip-and-gable roof rises straight ahead. The Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall reads more like a temple than a shrine, which is exactly what its history would lead you to expect. Its plan, close to a square five bays on each side, gives it a solid, grounded mass.

The Nara-period members survive in the inner sanctum at the center of the hall, with the early Kamakura outer space in front of it. The building was dismantled and repaired from the late Showa era into 1989, and the Nara Prefectural Board of Education published a repair report. Picture the near-square plan as eras added from the center outward, and the building starts to look different.

For the depth of the eaves and the tiled gable end, stand at a front corner rather than dead center. Compare it with the bark-roofed worship hall of the main shrine, and two buildings of entirely different lineages appear side by side within the same Omiwa Shrine.

Visiting the Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall

The Omiwa Shrine Auxiliary Otataneko Shrine Hall stands about 300 meters northwest of the main worship hall in a straight line. You can view the exterior freely from the grounds, and there is no admission fee. Prayers are offered at the front; the shrine gives no information about opening the interior.

Personal snapshots in the grounds are allowed within ordinary good manners, but Omiwa Shrine refuses photography, filming, and recording inside its halls, including those of auxiliary shrines. Directions and opening hours for the precinct are on the Omiwa Shrine page.