Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse

What the Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse in Niigata City is

The Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse (稲荷神社神輿庫, Inari Jinja Mikoshigura) is a late Edo-period (1830 to 1867) storehouse for the shrine's portable shrine, or mikoshi, in Kuzutsuka, Kita Ward, Niigata City, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 8, 2008.

It stands south of the main hall in the grounds of Inari Shrine (Niigata City). It is a little younger than the main hall and the worship and offering halls, which date from 1815, but all of them were registered on the same day.

The Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse is a single-storey timber building, 4.5 meters across and 3.6 meters deep, with a footprint of 21 square meters. Its gable roof is covered in interlocking pantiles, and a one-bay porch projects from the front. It is a storeroom, yet from outside it is hard to tell apart from a small shrine.

Why the Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse was registered

The Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse was registered in the 60th round as number 15-0301, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a mikoshi store with an unusual exterior in the manner of a gabled shrine building. Keeping a mikoshi dry needs no more than a plank-walled shed with a roof. Here, although the posts are square, they carry Mitsudo-gumi bracket sets, and the gable is framed with two tiers of rainbow beams decorated with Kaerumata, frog-leg struts. Techniques meant for a sanctuary have been carried over wholesale into a storehouse.

The eaves are restrained: a single layer of rafters, widely spaced (hitonoki mabara-daruki). Inside is a single room with a mortar floor under a coffered ceiling whose panels are painted with flowers and birds. A plain working floor and a painted ceiling of the same kind found in the worship hall share the one room.

What to look for at the Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse

Stand in front first and note the porch roof. Set a step below the main gable and pushed forward, it gives the storehouse the face of a shrine.

Then look up at the gable. A frog-leg strut sits on the lower rainbow beam and passes the load to the upper one. Compare it with the main hall's gable, which also has two tiers of rainbow beams but uses bottle-shaped struts instead. Within a few dozen paces you can set two gable designs of different dates side by side.

The square posts are another difference from the round posts of the main hall. Formal brackets on plain square posts sum up what this building is: a working store dressed as a shrine.

Visiting the Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse

The Inari Shrine Mikoshi Storehouse stands south of the main hall; from the front of the worship hall, walk round to the south side of the grounds to reach it. The exterior can be seen from the grounds, but we found no notice of the interior being opened, so we could not confirm any chance to see the painted ceiling.

We also found no posted rules on photography. Photograph the exterior only and keep clear of worshippers and festival rites. Directions and festival dates are on the Inari Shrine (Niigata City) page.