Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall (Former Hoanden of Sawada Jinjo Elementary School)

From School Shrine for the Imperial Portrait to Precinct Shrine

Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall (Former Hoanden of Sawada Jinjo Elementary School) (伴林氏神社若宮八幡宮社殿(旧澤田尋常小学校奉安殿)) is a small shrine building west of the main hall of Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine in Hayashi 3-chome, Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, built in 1940 as the hoanden of Sawada Jinjō Elementary School, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on June 29, 2022. It is a single-story timber building with a copper-sheet roof and a building area of 6.7 square meters.

Before 1945, Japanese schools kept the official photograph of the emperor and empress, together with a copy of the Imperial Rescript on Education, in a hoanden, a small detached repository. Pupils bowed before it on ceremonial days. After the war most hoanden were removed from school grounds.

Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall is one that survived by becoming a shrine. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that it was moved in 1973 and again in 2003, and it now serves as the sanctuary of Wakamiya Hachimangu, a subsidiary shrine within the precinct.

Why the Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall Was Registered

Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall is registration number 27-0863 and was listed as a model of design. The Agency calls it a rare surviving wooden hoanden and a good example of the Shinmei-zukuri style.

It is a one-bay shinmei-style shrine with a copper roof, carrying Chigi finials, Katsuogi billets on the ridge and small projecting muchikake pegs at the gable ends. The timber is unpainted and noticeably heavy for so small a building.

The freestanding Munamochi-bashira ridge posts at each gable stand perfectly upright, with no inward lean. A veranda of Kure-en boards with a Kōran railing wraps the hall, and the newel posts of the front steps are capped with Giboshi finials. Building a hoanden in a proper shrine style is what gives it its value.

What to Look For at the Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall

Visit it after the main hall and the contrast is immediate. The main hall is Kasuga style, entered at the gable end; Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall is shinmei style, entered on the long side. Both are unpainted, but the roofs face in different directions.

Walk to a gable end to see the ridge post standing clear of the wall and holding the ridge beam without leaning, and the little ends of the muchikake pegs poking out of the bargeboard.

At only 6.7 square meters, the thickness of the posts and veranda members stands out. It reflects a building meant to guard the imperial portrait securely on a school ground.

Visiting the Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall

Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine Wakamiya Hachimangu Hall stands west of the main hall, and its exterior can be seen from the grounds. Osaka Bunkazai Navi lists the interior as closed.

Since the building is an active shrine to Wakamiya Hachiman, offer a brief prayer before looking around. No photography rules are published. Directions and hours are on the Tomobayashi no Uji Shrine page.