Asahiya Hara Pharmacy Shinonome Fudoson Shrine

Asahiya Hara Pharmacy Shinonome Fudoson Shrine

The Asahiya Hara Pharmacy Shinonome Fudoson Shrine (朝日屋原薬局東雲不動尊祠, Asahiya Hara Yakkyoku Shinonome Fudōson Hokora) is a tiny household shrine to the Buddhist deity Fudo, built in 1912 near the middle of the Asahiya Hara Pharmacy estate, east of the storage shed, in Honcho 2-chome, Shiki City, Saitama Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 1, 2003.

Shinonome means daybreak, and Fudoson is a respectful name for Fudo Myoo, the fierce-faced guardian deity of Buddhism. The shrine stands on a base of cut stone and measures 1 Ken by 1 ken, with a gabled sheet-metal roof and its front on the long side in the Hirairi manner. Its building area is 0.95 square meters, the smallest of the seven registered buildings.

According to Shiki City's newsletter, Shinonome Fudoson has long been kept on the property as the household's guardian deity. The original image of Fudo Myoo is now enshrined at the temple Hōdōji.

Why It Was Registered

The Asahiya Hara Pharmacy Shinonome Fudoson Shrine was registered as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a piece of the daily culture of the time and praises its craftsmanship: plain, unpainted shiraki timber that shows its grain, and carved patterns on the tie beam across the front.

A structure of less than 1 square meter holds the same status here as the main house. A household deity who watched over the business and the family was as much a part of merchant life as the shop and the storehouse, and this shrine has survived together with the buildings raised in the same year.

What to Look For: Bare Wood and a Carved Beam

The timber is left unfinished, so the grain is on full display. On a building this small, the choice of wood and the care of the planing cannot hide.

The beam spanning the front posts at lintel height is carved with eyo, the decorative relief patterns used on temple and shrine buildings. Giving a backyard shrine the same detailing shows how seriously the owner and his carpenter took it.

The cut-stone base lifts the shrine clear of damp ground and gives the little building a sense of dignity.

Visiting the Shrine

The Asahiya Hara Pharmacy Shinonome Fudoson Shrine stands inside a private home and is not open to the public. It is in the middle of the plot, east of the storage shed, and cannot be seen from the street. You cannot enter the grounds to visit or pray.

What you can see from outside is mainly the main house and the gate and wall. Directions are on the Asahiya Hara Pharmacy page.