Kanda Shrine Treasure House

A Log-Style Storehouse West of the Sanctuary

The Kanda Shrine Treasure House (神田神社宝庫, Kanda Jinja Hōko) is the small storehouse of 1934, built in steel-framed reinforced concrete west 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. At 17 square metres it is the smallest building in the group registered that day.

On the far side of the main hall stands the shinsenjo, the food-offering hall, and the Kanda Shrine Treasure House mirrors it almost exactly. Seen from the worship hall, it is the small building at the back left.

Why the Treasure House Was Registered

The Kanda Shrine Treasure House is registration number 13-0153, listed under the criterion for works that set a standard in design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it follows a traditional type while introducing distinctive new forms at key points.

The type is the azekura, a raised storehouse whose walls are built of stacked timbers, roughly triangular in section, crossed at the corners. It is the form used since the eighth century for temple and shrine treasuries, the Shōsōin in Nara being the famous example. Here the log-wall look is reproduced within a concrete structure.

A head beam runs around the top of the walls and carries simple bracketing, a large bearing block topped by a boat-shaped bracket (Funahijiki), which in turn supports eaves of doubled, closely set Taruki rafters. The roof is hip-and-gable in tile-profile copper, matching the rest of the complex.

The detail the Agency singles out as new is at the bottom of the wall. In a conventional azekura the logs start directly on the floor frame; here the lowest course is carried on projecting brackets, so the joint between the raised floor and the wall becomes an ornamental feature.

What to Look For

Begin with that joint. Below the lowest log course of the Kanda Shrine Treasure House, a row of brackets holds the wall so that it seems to float slightly clear of the floor. This is the detail the official description goes out of its way to mention, and it is what gives the building its character.

Then follow the wall upward: log courses, head beam, bearing blocks and boat brackets, and finally the double rafters of the eaves. The bracketing is plain, but the doubled rafters are the same treatment used on the main hall.

Compare it with the shinsenjo on the east side. The two are almost the same size and both carry hip-and-gable roofs, yet their walls could hardly differ more. The shinsenjo is finished in red ochre like the principal halls, while the treasure house takes the form of a storehouse, and the difference in function shows directly on the outside.

Visiting the Treasure House

The Kanda Shrine Treasure House is used for storage and is not open inside. Walk around the west side of the worship hall, to the left as you face it, and it appears beyond the west gate. Some of the sacred treasures handed down at Kanda Myōjin are on display in the shrine museum within the precinct.

There are no photography rules specific to this building. Directions and general visiting information are on the Kanda Shrine page.