Myokyoji Rokusha Tennosha Fukusaki Tennosha Shrine

One of the Rokusha six

The Myokyoji Rokusha Tennosha Fukusaki Tennosha Shrine (妙教寺六社天王社福崎天王社, Myōkyō-ji Rokusha Tennōsha Fukusaki Tennōsha) is a mid-Meiji one-bay shrine at the southern end of the Rokusha Tennosha south of the Reioden at Saijo Inari Myokyoji in Takamatsu Inari, Kita Ward, Okayama City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2009/01/08. Its name is read Fukusaki.

The Rokusha Tennosha, the "six Tenno shrines", are a row of six one-bay shrines of nearly identical size and form, set a little south of the Reioden buildings and running from north to south as Ichitomi, Yomori, Daigenki, Shiraito, Fukuyoshi and Fukusaki. The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes that the six, standing in an orderly line, create a solemn space.

Closing the row

The Myokyoji Rokusha Tennosha Fukusaki Tennosha Shrine is a one-bay shrine with a nagare-style roof of cypress bark and a building area of 1.3 square metres, its sills on a rounded stone base over a cut-stone plinth.

Its rafters are single even at the front, and its porch has a carved bracket instead of a tie beam. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says it is built to a specification close to the Daigenki shrine. The row thus holds two types: the Ichitomi, Yomori and Shiraito shrines of 1895, and the mid-Meiji Daigenki, Fukuyoshi and Fukusaki shrines, each with its own small differences.

Of the Rokusha as a whole, the agency writes that six shrines of nearly the same size and form, all built in the middle of the Meiji era, stand in an orderly line and create a solemn space. The Myokyoji Rokusha Tennosha Fukusaki Tennosha Shrine closes that line at its southern end.

What to look for, and visiting

The Myokyoji Rokusha Tennosha Fukusaki Tennosha Shrine is the southernmost of the Rokusha row. It can be seen at any time, free of charge; the interior is not open.

From here, turn and look north along all six roofs. In front of the shrine, check the single rafters and the carved porch bracket, then compare them with the doubled front rafters of the Ichitomi shrine at the other end to see the two types side by side. Opening hours and directions are on the Saijo Inari Myokyoji page.