Sumiyoshi Taisha Daikai Shrine North Small Gate

A small gate at Daikai Shrine

Sumiyoshi Taisha Daikai Shrine North Small Gate (住吉大社摂社大海神社北小門) is a late Edo-period munamon gate in the sacred fence on the north side of the front of Daikai Shrine, a subsidiary shrine of Sumiyoshi Taisha in Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, moved to its present site in the early Meiji period and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2018/05/10. It has a gabled tiled roof and is 2.6 metres wide.

Daikai Shrine (大海神社, Daikai-jinja; the national database reads it Taikai) stands north of the main sanctuary and is the highest-ranking of Sumiyoshi's subsidiary shrines, sometimes called its detached sanctuary. It enshrines Toyotamahiko and his daughter Toyotamahime, the sea king and princess of the Yamasachi legend. Its main hall, built in 1708 in the Sumiyoshi style, is an Important Cultural Property. The North Small Gate opens in the fence on the north side of its front.

Paired with the south gate, with one difference

A munamon is a simple gate: two posts, a lintel, and a gabled roof. Here the main posts are round and the rear braces square, and the gate matches its southern twin in size and form. The official description notes one difference, a horizontal rail inserted between the lintel and the ridge beam, and says that small as it is, the Sumiyoshi Taisha Daikai Shrine North Small Gate completes the setting of the shrine front together with its partner.

On the south gate, the ridge beam is carried on a short post set on the lintel, the roof has a gentle curve and a plum-blossom pendant hangs from the gable. The north gate fills the same space with a rail. Why the pair differ is not recorded, but the contrast is easy to spot.

The Daikai Shrine zone holds the main hall, offering hall and corridor, and West Gate, all Important Cultural Properties, together with these two small registered gates. An Osaka Prefecture survey notes that the zone preserves work older than the four main halls of the central sanctuary. The two small gates are the supporting cast that frames its front.

What to look for, and visiting

Stand in front of the West Gate of Daikai Shrine and look along the fence on either side: there is a small gate to the north and another to the south. Check the rail between lintel and ridge on the Sumiyoshi Taisha Daikai Shrine North Small Gate, then the post and pendant on the south gate. The well in front of the shrine, Tama-no-i, is where Yamasachi is said to have sunk the tide-raising jewel given him by the sea god.

The exterior can be seen freely during opening hours, at no charge. Daikai Shrine's annual festival is on October 13. Opening hours and directions are on the Sumiyoshi Taisha page.