Katagiri Seiryudo Marishisonten Shrine Sanctuary

A Guardian Shrine in the Garden's North-East Corner

Katagiri Seiryudo Marishisonten Shrine Sanctuary (片桐棲龍堂摩利支尊天神社廟, Katagiri Seiryūdō Marishi-sonten Jinja-byō) is a small shrine in the garden of the Katagiri Seiryudo kampo pharmacy in Nishiminatocho, Sakai Ward, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, built around 1814 and entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 October 2000. A single-storey timber structure with a tiled roof, it covers only 2.3 square metres, the smallest of the seven registered structures on the site.

It stands in the east of the property, in the north-east corner of the Yabunouchi-school garden, facing west. Sakai City describes it as the equivalent of the household's guardian shrine. Marishiten, or Marishi-sonten, is a Buddhist deity personifying shimmering heat and light; because she is invisible and cannot be harmed, she was venerated from medieval times as a protector of warriors.

A Shrine Inside a Shrine

Katagiri Seiryudo Marishisonten Shrine Sanctuary is built in two layers. The outer sanctuary is a small gabled Kirizuma-zukuri structure roofed with Sangawara-buki pantiles, entered at the gable end, its posts set on a timber sill and left visible in the walls in the Shinkabe manner.

Inside sits the shrine proper: a one-bay Nagare-zukuri hall, the classic Shinto form whose roof sweeps forward over the front, fitted with a triangular Chidori-hafu gable and a curved cusped gable, and roofed with boards. A fully formed shrine hall is thus tucked inside a shelter of 2.3 square metres.

Enclosing a shrine hall in a protective outer building is a common way of sheltering it from weather at shrines across Japan. Here the same arrangement is carried out at the scale of a household shrine in a private garden.

Why It Was Registered

Katagiri Seiryudo Marishisonten Shrine Sanctuary was registered as difficult to reproduce, under number 27-0109. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it offers a glimpse into the history of Katagiri Seiryudo.

It belongs to the same period as the Bunka-era Main House, the oldest layer of the compound. That a guardian shrine was set up alongside the dwelling shows a household running its property as a complete world of its own.

Visiting

Katagiri Seiryudo Marishisonten Shrine Sanctuary stands in a garden closed to the public; it cannot be visited for worship or viewing. The compound is a private home and pharmacy, and Sakai City asks visitors to view the buildings from outside only. The shrine sits in the garden's north-east corner, and whether it can be seen from the lane has not been confirmed. Directions are on the Katagiri Seiryudo page.