Shingu Shrine Main Hall (Kusatsu)

A Warring States Shrine Hall on the Old Tokaido

The Shingu Shrine Main Hall (Kusatsu) (新宮神社本殿) is the main sanctuary of Shingu Shrine beside the old Tokaido road at Noji-cho, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture, a one-bay nagare-style hall dated to 1523 by its ridge tag and ridge beam, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on March 28, 1923 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Shiga Cultural Heritage Protection Association).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a one-bay nagare-style shrine with a cusped gable on the front eaves and a cypress-bark roof, owned by Shingu Shrine.

Noji Post Station and the Shrine

The Shiga Cultural Heritage Protection Association explains that the old Tokaido ran through Noji in Kusatsu, where the Noji post station stood from the late Heian to the Kamakura period, and that the Hagi no Tamagawa spring here was celebrated in many poems.

Shingu Shrine is said to have been founded in 730 as the guardian shrine of Nojidera, a temple opened by the monk Gyoki, and enshrines Kotosakao no Mikoto and Hayatamao no Mikoto. A main hall was built in 771 and rebuilt in the Warring States period. In the Edo period the shrine lay in the lands of the Honda lords of Zeze, who confirmed its holdings and repaired its buildings (Shiga Cultural Heritage Protection Association). It is also called Noji Shrine (Biwako Visitors Bureau).

Value as an Important Cultural Property

The Shingu Shrine Main Hall (Kusatsu) was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1923. Built in 1523, at the height of the Warring States period, it has come down through later repairs. The association notes that while the nagare style is common, a cusped gable on the front eaves is unusual.

What to Look For

According to the Shiga Cultural Heritage Protection Association, a major repair in 1671 substantially altered the hall, adding the cusped gable to the front eaves. The frog-leg struts are elegantly carved with paulownia, peonies, waves and clouds.

The Biwako Visitors Bureau notes that a recent dismantling repair turned the Shingu Shrine Main Hall (Kusatsu)'s frog-leg struts, which had been installed back to front, the right way round. At the north end of the grounds stands a gate said to have been the water gate of Zeze Castle, with eave tiles bearing the hollyhock crest of the Honda family (Shiga Cultural Heritage Protection Association).

Visiting

Shingu Shrine, home of the Shingu Shrine Main Hall (Kusatsu), is at 1674 Noji-cho, Kusatsu City, about 2.5 kilometres south-west of JR Kusatsu Station and about 10 minutes by car from the Kusatsu-Tanakami interchange of the Shin-Meishin Expressway, with parking for five cars (Biwako Visitors Bureau).

The association suggests walking south-east from JR Minami-Kusatsu Station, crossing Route 1 and following the old Tokaido north-east. Enquiries go to the shrine (077-562-3067).