Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo

Nineteen Square Metres East of the Main Hall

The Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo (神田神社神饌所, Kanda Jinja Shinsenjo) is the single-storey food-offering hall of 1934, built in steel-framed reinforced concrete east of the main hall of Kanda Shrine (Kanda Myōjin) in Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 19 September 2003. It covers 19 square metres.

A shinsenjo is where shinsen, the food and drink offered to the deities, is prepared and held before a ritual. Rice, salt, water, sake and produce of land and sea are arranged here and carried out to the altar. Most shrines of any size have such a room, usually as a plain service building; the Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo instead stands right beside the sanctuary and wears the same finish as the principal halls.

The plan is a small square, two bays each way, under a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) roof sheathed in copper worked to the profile of clay tiles. The rafters are doubled and set close together, a treatment normally kept for buildings meant to be looked at. A bay projects on the east side. Inside, the floor is laid in planed boards, with a sunken earthen entry step in the southeast corner.

Why the Shinsenjo Was Registered

The Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo is registration number 13-0152, listed under the criterion for works that set a standard in design, the same criterion applied to the main hall, offering hall, worship hall and treasure house of the 1934 rebuilding.

What the Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out is the care lavished on a service building. Small as it is, it stands on a high base, is coloured throughout in Bengara red ochre like the principal halls, and carries gold-leafed metal fittings at points around the structure, all to give it dignity and ceremony. A room for preparing offerings was given the dress of a sanctuary.

West of the main hall the treasure house occupies an almost mirror-image position, making the shinsenjo the eastern half of a pair. The two buildings hold the flanks of the main hall, and the mizugaki fence running between them completes the enclosure around it.

What to Look For

The Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo sits off the direct path to the worship hall. From the front of the worship hall, walk around to the right, on the east side, and its hip-and-gable roof appears behind the east gate. Shift position a little and the projecting east bay and the tall base come into view.

Two details reward a closer look. The first is the copper roof. The shrine explains that steel roof trusses were used across the complex to lighten the load, and columns were set slightly closer together so the concrete halls would take on the look of timber. Compare the roof of the Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo with the great roof of the worship hall and you can see the same approach at two very different scales.

The second is the colour. The red-ochre coating over concrete was renewed during the repainting programme of 1994 to 1999, and its depth shifts as the light changes. The gilded fittings at the corners catch the sun.

Visiting the Shinsenjo

The Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo is still used for ritual preparation, and the interior is closed to the public. The exterior can be seen from the grounds on the east side of the worship hall.

There are no photography rules specific to this building. When offerings are being prepared or a ceremony is under way, keep a respectful distance. Directions and general visiting information are on the Kanda Shrine page.