Kasuga Shrine Main Hall

What the Kasuga Shrine Main Hall Is

Kasuga Shrine Main Hall (春日神社本殿, Kasuga Jinja Honden) is the sanctuary at the heart of Mikasayama Kasuga Shrine in Bungotakada City, Oita Prefecture, built in the last decades of the Edo period (1830 to 1868) and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 28, 2011. It faces south near the centre of the precinct and houses all four Kasuga deities, Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, Amenokoyane and Himegami, under one roof.

The single-storey timber hall has a copper roof and a footprint of 17 square metres. It is three bays wide with a gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri) and a one-bay porch (Kōhai), surrounded by a railed veranda (Kirime-en). The three front bays are closed with hinged lattice shutters (Shitomido) and the front bay of each side with panelled doors. In the gable, two tiers of beams carry vase-shaped struts (Taiheizuka); the brackets project two steps and support a small ceiling and curved braces (Shirin). The whole building is zelkova, left unpainted (Shiraki-zukuri) apart from white-painted beam ends.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Kasuga Shrine Main Hall as having a tall elevation. Main halls of this size usually take the nagare form with a long sweeping front roof; this one uses a gabled roof instead and narrows the side bays relative to the centre, so the frame reads as tall. The Kumamoto University survey noted the same vertical emphasis at the Wakamiya Shrine sanctuary elsewhere in Bungotakada and treated it as a regional trait of the period.

The single building for four deities has a history behind it. According to the shrine, four separate sanctuaries once stood here, but they burned under Otomo Sorin in the 16th century, and in 1577 parishioners rebuilt one hall and enshrined all four gods together. The present main hall keeps that arrangement.

Sources give slightly different dates. The shrine's 2003 history records a rebuilding in 1810, but the Kumamoto survey found no firm evidence for it and, judging from the unpainted zelkova and the style of the carved details, dated the hall to the first half of the 19th century. The Agency gives 1830 to 1868. All three point to the same broad period; they differ in precision.

What to Look For

Approach the porch and look at the carved beam ends: a lion facing forward and elephants on the sides. The front tie beam curves in an arc and is linked to the main frame by curved connecting beams (Ebi-kōryō), and the brackets include angled braces (Tabasami).

Look up into the gable. Between the two tiers of beams sit three bracket sets, and the vase-shaped struts carry scrolling side boards (Oigata). The brackets project two steps with cloud-shaped tail rafters.

Some of the history is hidden. The present plastered ceiling inside probably dates from the major restoration begun in 2000, and the older flat ceiling survives above it. The roof was re-covered in copper in 1874 and repaired again in 1913.

Visiting the Main Hall

The interior of the Kasuga Shrine Main Hall is not open; visitors pay their respects from the worship hall and see the exterior from there. The Itsukushima subsidiary shrine (west) and Yasaka subsidiary shrine (east) flank it, so the row of three sanctuaries can be seen together. Ask at the shrine office before photographing a ceremony. Directions and general visiting information are on the Mikasayama Kasuga Shrine page.