Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine Lattice Fence

A 32-Meter Fence Around the Sanctuary

Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine Lattice Fence (御幸森天神宮透塀, Miyukimori Tenjingū Sukibei) is the roofed timber Sukibei built in 1930 at Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine in Momodani, Ikuno-ku, Osaka City, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on April 28, 2000. It runs back from behind the worship hall and wraps around the offering hall and main hall, marking off the sacred enclosure.

The fence stands on a base of cut stone about 1 meter high and turns several corners along a total length of 32 meters. The Agency for Cultural Affairs' description gives the same run as 17 ken, the traditional unit of one bay between posts. The roof is sheathed in copper (Dōban-buki), matching the halls it encloses.

Why the Lattice Fence Was Registered

The agency registered the Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine Lattice Fence as number 27-0096 under the criterion of serving as a model of design. Every bay has a Renji-mado window of upright slats set above Koshiita wainscot. Those slatted openings are what make it a sukibei, literally a see-through fence: they screen the sanctuary while still letting the eye through.

The eaves of the fence roof are carried on sashihijiki, bracket arms mortised straight into the posts. This is a signature technique of Daibutsuyō, the style used to rebuild Todaiji, and it echoes the daibutsuyo scroll profiles carved on the bracket arms of the main hall, so the same architectural vocabulary runs through both the sanctuary and its enclosure.

The agency also notes that the posts and Taruki rafters have their corners cut back in broad chamfers, omentori, exactly as on the main hall and worship hall, so that the fence shares the halls' design rather than being treated as a mere accessory. That consistency is a large part of why it was registered.

What to Look for on the Lattice Fence

Up close, start with the corners of the posts on the Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine Lattice Fence. The chamfers are wide enough that each post reads as nearly octagonal, and in raking light every face takes a different tone. Compare them with the posts of the worship hall and the same cut is plain to see.

Then look up under the eaves, where a bracket arm projects from each post to catch the roof, repeated bay after bay. Through the slats of the windows you can make out the flank of the offering hall and parts of the main hall, which is the whole point of a see-through fence: it divides inside from outside without blocking the view.

Do not miss the corners where the fence turns. The stone base and the fence change direction together to wrap behind the main hall, showing that the line of the enclosure was set out to follow the halls it protects.

Visiting the Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine Lattice Fence

The Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine Lattice Fence can be viewed from the outside anywhere in the grounds, and the area inside it is not presented as open to visitors. The shrine publishes no rule on photography, but avoid leaning on the fence or pushing hands or camera gear between the slats.

Directions and visiting conditions for the grounds are on the Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine page.