Minase Shrine Shinmon Gate and Tsuiji Wall

The Gate at the End of the Approach

Minase Shrine Shinmon Gate and Tsuiji Wall (水無瀬神宮神門及び築地塀, Minase Jingū Shinmon oyobi Tsuijibei) is an early Edo-period gate and earthen wall at Minase Shrine in Hirose, Shimamoto Town, Mishima District, Osaka Prefecture, added to the national register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2016. The gate stands where the approach ends, with sections of tsuiji wall running off on either side, and everyone who enters the grounds passes through it.

The Shinmon is a single-bay yakuimon, a gate type with rear support posts, under a gabled roof of interlocking hongawara tiles; its opening is 2.8 meters wide. The wall is also tiled, with a total length of 5.0 meters. The Agency for Cultural Affairs registers gate and wall together as one property and dates them, like the Main Hall, to the early Edo period, between 1615 and 1661.

Rank Fit for a Palace Site

The Minase Shrine Shinmon Gate and Tsuiji Wall was registered on August 1, 2016 (registration no. 27-0646) for its contribution to the historic landscape. The agency writes that the pair shows a dignity befitting the site of an imperial villa, and Shimamoto Town adds that, like the Main Hall, they go back to the early Edo period.

That dignity is easiest to read on the wall itself. Five horizontal lines, called jōgi-suji, are drawn across the earthen face. The number of lines on such walls is generally taken as a mark of rank, and five is the highest, a pattern associated with temples and shrines connected to the imperial family. On a wall at the site of Emperor Go-Toba's villa, those five lines are a concrete expression of the status the agency describes.

What to Look For

The gate's frame is easiest to follow from the side. A lower beam set into each main post carries a bearing block, which in turn supports the upper beam; Shimamoto Town calls that lower member an inserted bracket arm. On top of the upper beam a long splayed strut rises to the ridge, carrying it through another block and a bracket. The eaves have a single tier of widely spaced rafters, a plum-blossom gable pendant (umebachi gegyo) hangs at each gable, and the plank doors open outward in two leaves. With so few members, you can trace which piece is carrying which load.

The north section of the wall has a small wicket door, a way in and out that bypasses the main gate. Look toward the north end of the wall to find it.

The Minase Shrine Shinmon Gate and Tsuiji Wall also has a legend attached. The shrine says that a handprint on the south post of the entrance, on your right as you face the gate from outside, was left by the outlaw Ishikawa Goemon as a sign that he had mended his ways. There is no documentary support for the story, and it is best enjoyed as a piece of local lore.

Visiting the Shinmon Gate and Tsuiji Wall

The Minase Shrine Shinmon Gate and Tsuiji Wall is at the entrance to the grounds and can be seen freely whenever you visit. For a view of the whole gate and wall, step back a little along the approach and look at it from the west.

The tap area for the Rikyu no Mizu spring is on the left just inside the gate, and people start arriving with water containers early in the morning, so take care not to block the way if you stop to take photos. The shrine does not publish a specific photography policy. Directions and hours for the grounds are on the Minase Shrine page.