Yoshikawa Hachiman Shrine Main Hall

A Shrine Hall of 1408 in the Kibi Highlands

The Yoshikawa Hachiman Shrine Main Hall (吉川八幡宮本殿) is a five-bay hip-and-gable main hall of 1408 in Yoshikawa, Kibichuo Town, Kaga District, Okayama Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on April 24, 1925 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey hall five bays by two under a hip-and-gable roof of wood shingles, with a one-bay aisle across the front; designation number 00816.

The 1925 date in the Agency record is that of its designation under the former law.

A Main Hall of 1408

The main hall of Yoshikawa Hachiman Shrine in Yoshikawa, Kibichuo Town, Okayama Prefecture, dates from 1408 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A single-storey hall five bays by two under a hip-and-gable roof of wood shingles, it has a one-bay aisle running across the front.

According to the Okayama Prefecture Tourism Federation, the shrine is said to have been founded in the mid-Heian period as a branch of Iwashimizu Hachimangu in Kyoto, and enshrines Emperor Ojin, Emperor Chuai and Empress Jingu. Each October its Toban festival, centred on boys of about ten and held with old ritual, continues for about a month.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency record has no commentary; the date, 1408, and its form, a hip-and-gable hall roofed in wood shingles, set out what was designated.

What to Look For

Look for the shingled hip-and-gable hall with its one-bay aisle across the front (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Yoshikawa Hachiman Shrine (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the Okayama Prefecture Tourism Federation, it is about 15 minutes by car from the Kayo interchange of the Okayama Expressway (parking for 20 cars), or about 60 minutes by bus from JR Bitchu-Takahashi Station to the Yoshikawa terminus and then 2 minutes on foot. The main day of the Toban festival is the fourth Sunday of October.