Uda Mikumari Shrine

Uda Mikumari Shrine, a Water Shrine in the Hills of Uda

Uda Mikumari Shrine (宇太水分神社, Uda Mikumari Jinja) is a Shinto shrine in Furuichiba, Utano, Uda City, Nara Prefecture, whose three main hall buildings, the oldest carrying a ridge-raising date of 1320, are a National Treasure, while two smaller Muromachi-period halls for its subordinate Kasuga and Munakata shrines are Important Cultural Properties.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs reads the name as Uda Mikumari; the shrine itself prefers Uda-no-Mikumari. Mikumari means the dividing and sharing out of water. The Japan Travel Bureau Foundation's register of tourism resources lists three deities: Ame-no-Mikumari, the god who stands for the water source and its distribution, together with Hayaakitsuhiko and Kuni-no-Mikumari.

Nobody knows when Uda Mikumari Shrine was founded. The shrine's own tradition says that worship here began by order of Emperor Sujin, the tenth emperor in the traditional count. It is reckoned as one of the four mikumari shrines of ancient Yamato named in the tenth-century Engishiki register, alongside Yoshino, Tsuge and Katsuragi, and is regarded as the one guarding the east side of the Nara Basin.

There is a complication. Three mikumari shrines line the Hono River valley: Soja Mikumari Shrine upstream, this shrine in the middle, and a second shrine called Uda Mikumari at Shimoidani in Haibara downstream. The same register notes that it remains unclear which of them is the shrine listed in the Engishiki.

The National Treasure and Important Cultural Properties of Uda Mikumari Shrine

The listed buildings at Uda Mikumari Shrine are five small sanctuaries in a row on a raised terrace. At the centre is the National Treasure main hall: three identical one-bay halls, the First, Second and Third Halls, each built in the sumigi-iri variant of Kasuga-zukuri and roofed with cypress bark. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the ridge beam of the First Hall records its raising in 1320, the Third Hall is of the same date, and the Second Hall shows some Muromachi-period workmanship.

The main hall was designated under the former preservation law on April 17, 1911, and became a National Treasure on March 20, 1954. The same day, the two smaller halls standing to its right were designated Important Cultural Properties. The Kasuga Shrine hall dates from the middle Muromachi period and repeats the sumigi-iri Kasuga form of the main hall. The Munakata Shrine hall, from the late Muromachi period, is the only one of the five built in the Nagare-zukuri style. Both are roofed in cypress bark.

The official names call both shrines massha, or subordinate shrines, though local guides often use the word sessha instead. These pages follow the Agency's names.

A survey list published by Nara Prefecture records that all five buildings at Uda Mikumari Shrine were repaired together three times, in 1959, 1972 and fiscal 2003, with work on the roofs and, most recently, the paintwork. The history and details of each building are covered on its own page.

Walking Through Uda Mikumari Shrine

The approach to Uda Mikumari Shrine begins on the bank of the Hono River. Pass under the first torii, walk through the old houses of Furuichiba to the second torii, and a broad precinct opens up, ringed by the shrine woods.

The worship hall stands at the front of the precinct. Behind it, a terrace one level higher is enclosed by a sacred fence. Inside, the three National Treasure halls stand evenly spaced in a single line, and to their right come the smaller halls of the Kasuga and Munakata shrines. From in front of the worship hall you can look up and see all five vermilion facades side by side.

The precinct also has a huge cedar that splits into two trunks near the ground. The Uda City Tourism Association introduces it as the Meoto-sugi, or Couple Cedar, a symbol of a happy marriage.

Visiting Uda Mikumari Shrine and Getting There

The grounds of Uda Mikumari Shrine are open to visitors at no charge. The area inside the sacred fence is normally closed, but since June 2011 the shrine has offered special viewings there. According to the Japan Travel Bureau Foundation, visitors who ask at the shrine office can enter the fenced terrace for a fee and see the main hall and the subordinate shrines up close. We could not confirm the hours or the fee, so contact the shrine before you go (tel. 0745-84-2613).

By public transport, take a Nara Kotsu bus from stop 4 at the south exit of Haibara Station on the Kintetsu Osaka Line, either route 10 toward Utano or route 15 toward the Higashiyoshino Village Office. Get off at Furuichiba Mikumari Jinja after about 15 minutes; the shrine is a walk of about 5 minutes from the stop. The shrine lies roughly 7.5 kilometers south of Haibara Station.

By car, the shrine is about 20 kilometers from the Hari interchange on the Meihan National Highway, via National Route 369. There is parking for about 10 cars. The shrine gives its address as 245 Utano-Furuichiba; the Agency for Cultural Affairs does not list a lot number.

The annual grand festival falls on the third Sunday of October. The goddess Hayaakitsuhime of Soja Mikumari Shrine, upstream, travels down by portable shrine to meet Hayaakitsuhiko, the male deity of Uda Mikumari Shrine, for their one meeting of the year, escorted by parishioners dressed as a feudal lord's procession. The Uda City Tourism Association says the festival is believed to date back to the 9th century; the drum floats brought by each district are a highlight.