Hiyoshi Toshogu (Branch Shrine of Hiyoshi Taisha)

What Hiyoshi Toshogu Is

Hiyoshi Toshogu, a branch shrine of Hiyoshi Taisha in Sakamoto-honmachi, Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, is a group of early Edo-period buildings raised in 1634; the combined main hall, connecting chamber and worship hall were designated an Important Cultural Property in 1917, and the ceremonial gate and openwork fence were added to that designation in 1956.

The shrine enshrines Tokugawa Ieyasu. According to Hiyoshi Taisha's account, the monk Tenkai, who was closely involved in founding Tōshōgū shrines and belonged to the Tendai school, had this one built at the foot of Mount Hiei in 1623. The buildings standing today replaced those in 1634. Until the Meiji era the site was administered by the monastery on the mountain; after the separation of Shinto and Buddhism it passed to Hiyoshi Taisha.

Hiyoshi Toshogu sits on high ground near the lower station of the Sakamoto cable car, outside the main precinct of Hiyoshi Taisha. It charges its own admission, separate from the contribution collected at the shrine grounds.

The Gongen-zukuri Plan

The main hall, connecting chamber and worship hall are three components counted as a single designated structure. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the main hall as three bays by three, single-storeyed, hip-and-gable roofed in copper sheet; the connecting chamber as three bays by one under a double-pent copper roof; and the worship hall as five bays by two, single-storeyed and hip-and-gable, with a dormer gable on the front, a three-bay projecting canopy and a cusped gable over its eaves, again in copper.

Linking the three in a row like this is the form called Gongen-zukuri. Ōtsu city's description puts it plainly: because a passage joins the main hall to the worship hall, the plan resembles the letter H. Worship hall at the front, sanctuary at the back, and a narrow chamber bridging them. Seen from above, Hiyoshi Toshogu really does read as two uprights joined by a crossbar.

Hiyoshi Taisha's account states that the style used here is said to have served as the basis for the rebuilding of the Tōshōgū at Nikkō. That is how the shrine phrases it, and this article keeps the same reserve. The construction year of 1634 does coincide with the start of the great Kan'ei rebuilding at Nikkō.

All three parts are roofed in copper sheet, unlike the cypress bark used on the sanctuaries within the main precinct. The gate and fence, however, are cypress bark, so the roofing distinguishes the shrine proper from its enclosure.

The Gate, the Fence and the Lacquer Inside

The gate is a four-legged karamon in cypress bark, a four-post gate carrying a roof whose curve runs horizontally across the front. The openwork fence extends fifty-four ken around the perimeter, also in cypress bark, and includes two small doorways. The fence rings the buildings, and the gate is the only formal way in.

Pass through it and you stand before the worship hall. Shiga Prefecture's official visitor information describes what confronts you there as black-lacquered throughout and finished in dense polychrome. Ōtsu city likewise names the elaborate decoration inside and out as the defining quality of Hiyoshi Toshogu. Carving and colour are laid on thickly, with the black lacquer ground holding the palette together.

The busiest passage of the exterior is where the dormer gable on the front of the worship hall meets the cusped gable over the canopy below it. Layering gables in this way is familiar from the more famous Tōshōgū at Nikkō; here the same idea is compressed into a much smaller building. The roofline is legible even from outside the fence.

Visiting

Admission to Hiyoshi Toshogu is 300 yen. The interior can be seen only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Groups wishing to visit on a weekday are asked to contact the Hiyoshi Taisha shrine office in advance on 077-578-0009. Toilets are available only during interior viewing hours, so plan accordingly.

It is about a ten-minute walk from Hiyoshi Taisha. The shrine warns that the risers on the front staircase are unusually high; approaching from the direction of the cable car station avoids the steps entirely, which is the better route for anyone unsure of their footing.

Drivers can use the visitor car park at the bottom of the front steps, or the one immediately on the left after crossing the bridge beside the cable car station. Coaches use the car park at the foot of the steps.

The nearest stations are Sakamoto-Hieizanguchi on the Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line and Hieizan-Sakamoto on the JR Kosei Line. If you plan to walk the main precinct first, allow about forty minutes for the circuit and work backwards from the 4:00 p.m. cut-off for interior viewing.