Tenjin Shrine Main Hall

A Kasuga-Style Shrine in the Hills of Yamazoe

The Tenjin Shrine Main Hall (天神社本殿) is the main hall of a Tenjin shrine of the mid-Muromachi period in Kitano, Yamazoe Village, Yamabe District, Nara Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on March 28, 1923 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a one-bay kasuga-style shrine with a roof of thick boards, designated together with sixteen ridge tablets; designation number 00781.

The 1923 date in the Agency record is that of its designation under the former law.

A Main Hall Handed Down with Sixteen Ridge Tablets

This is the main hall of the Tenjin Shrine at Kitano in Yamazoe Village, Nara Prefecture (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency records a one-bay kasuga-style shrine with a roof of thick boards, built in the mid-Muromachi period and designated together with sixteen ridge tablets.

According to the Nara Prefecture public bulletin, every year on the second Monday of October (Sports Day) the shrine hosts the Kitano Hodengaku, a rite of the shrine guild praying for good harvests and household safety, performed on the dance floor of the worship hall. It was designated by Nara Prefecture in 1998 as an intangible folk cultural property, one of the ritual performing arts of the Higashiyama area, and is thought to be a dengaku art drawing on medieval sacred songs and ballads.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency record has no commentary; the structure and date set out what was designated. It is a one-bay kasuga-style main hall of the mid-Muromachi period, designated with sixteen ridge tablets (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

What to Look For

Look for the small one-bay kasuga-style shrine and its roof of thick boards (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Tenjin Shrine (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official visiting information was found. The Kitano Hodengaku is performed every year on the second Monday of October (Nara Prefecture).