Kanda Shrine Main Hall

The 1934 Sanctuary at the Back of the Complex

The Kanda Shrine Main Hall (神田神社本殿, Kanda Jinja Honden) is the single-storey sanctuary of 1934, built in steel-framed reinforced concrete behind the worship hall and offering hall of Kanda Shrine, better known as Kanda Myōjin, in Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo; it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 19 September 2003. It has a building area of 63 square metres.

This is the building that houses the deities. Three are enshrined in the Kanda Shrine Main Hall: Ōnamuchi-no-Mikoto (Daikoku-sama) in the first seat, Sukunahikona-no-Mikoto (Ebisu-sama) in the second, and Taira no Masakado in the third. The shrine records that Masakado was moved out to a subsidiary shrine in 1874 and returned to the honden in 1984.

The roof is a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) form entered from the long side, the arrangement known as hirairi. It is sheathed in copper worked to the profile of clay tiles, and from a few paces away it reads as an ordinary tiled roof.

Why the Main Hall Was Registered

The Kanda Shrine Main Hall carries registration number 13-0149 and was registered under the criterion for works that set a standard in design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it the central building of the post-earthquake reconstruction, designed by Ōe Shintarō and Satō Kōichi with Itō Chūta as consultant, and praises how skilfully it carries over the delicate proportions and detailing of traditional timber architecture.

Concrete or not, the plan and eaves follow the grammar of a wooden sanctuary. Of the three bays in depth, the front two form the outer sanctum (Gejin) and the rear one the inner sanctum (Naijin). The eaves rest on bracket sets of the one-step projecting type called Degumi, and above them the rafters are doubled and set tightly together, a treatment reserved in timber shrines for buildings of high rank.

The shrine explains that steel roof trusses were used across the complex to reduce weight, and that column spacing was narrowed a little so the concrete halls would keep the look of timber construction. The honden is where that intent shows most clearly: steel and concrete made to hold the slender proportions of a building framed in wood.

What to Look For

The Kanda Shrine Main Hall is enclosed by the mizugaki fence, and visitors can go no further than its outer side. Because the upper half of the fence is open lattice, the roof and the layered eaves can be followed through the gaps.

Look up at the eaves. The degumi brackets step out from the column line, and two tiers of closely spaced rafters sit above them. Everything is lacquered vermilion, so even at close range it is hard to tell that these members are concrete and metal rather than wood.

For the full roofline, walk around to the east or west side of the worship hall; the honden rises beyond the lower roof of the offering hall. The annex beside the honden, added in 1989, is not part of the registration.

When the 1945 air raids burned most of the precinct, the Kanda Shrine Main Hall and the connected halls survived with only minor damage.

Visiting the Main Hall

The interior of the Kanda Shrine Main Hall is closed to the public. The formal prayer service the shrine offers takes place in the worship hall, and there is no published opportunity to enter the honden itself. The exterior is seen from outside the fence, by walking around either flank of the worship hall.

The shrine publishes no photography rules specific to the main hall. During ceremonies and prayer services, keep a respectful distance and stay out of worshippers' way. Directions and general visiting information are on the Kanda Shrine page.