Nagata Shrine (Tottori)

The Guardian Shrine of Tottori Castle

Nagata Shrine (長田神社, Nagata Jinja) is a Shinto shrine in Higashimachi 1-chome, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture, said to have been moved outside the castle walls when Tottori Castle was built in 1545; eight of its structures, from the main hall to the purification pavilion, were entered on the national register as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 2 November 2018. This is the Nagata Shrine of Tottori, not the better-known shrine of the same name in Nagata Ward, Kobe. It calls itself the ubusunagami, or tutelary shrine, of Tottori Castle, and locals also know it as the chief guardian shrine of the city.

Four deities are enshrined: Kotoshironushi, Sarutahiko, Homudawake (the deified Emperor Ōjin) and Sugawara no Michizane, the patron of learning. The Tottori Association of Shinto Shrines lists its prewar rank as a prefectural shrine and its annual festival as 9 May.

Nobody knows exactly when Nagata Shrine was founded. According to the shrine's own history, it began as the guardian deity of the settlement at the foot of Mount Kyūshō. In 1545 Yamana Nobumichi, lord of Fuse Castle, built the first fortress on the mountain, and the shrine was moved outside it to a spur to the southeast called Senkigasaki. The lords who followed, from the Yamana and Kikkawa to the Miyabe and finally the Ikeda, all treated it as their own.

In 1650, when the Tōshōgū shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu was founded in Tottori, Nagata Shrine moved again, to the Kamimachi district. Fire destroyed it in 1720, and the shrine records that its buildings were rebuilt in 1741 under the domain lord Ikeda Munayasu. The present name dates from 1868.

The 1924 Move and the Buildings It Produced

What you see at Nagata Shrine today is largely the result of a move in the 1920s. In 1918 the governor of Tottori Prefecture, Satake Yoshifumi, proposed relocating the shrine, and after touring candidate sites with the priests he settled on the present ground near the second of its historic sites. The land was national forest and a water reservoir; the carp pond in the grounds is what remains of that reservoir.

To design the new precinct and oversee the work, the shrine brought in Sakatani Ryōnosuke (坂谷良之進), a specialist in temple and shrine architecture employed by Nara Prefecture. The installation ceremony took place on 1 December 1924. The main hall, the heihaiden (a combined offering and worship hall) and the shinsenjo were dismantled at Kamimachi and re-erected here, and the middle gate was built new for the occasion.

Building continued for decades. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the purification pavilion to 1929, the sukibei lattice fence to 1932, the Shinmon gate to 1935 and the prayer hall to 1959. The shrine credits Ōmura Kyūbei with donating the fence and the pavilion roof, and Ueda Kitarō with the gate.

Nagata Shrine marked the centenary of the move in 2024 and says it is carrying out repairs to the main hall, offering hall, fence and other structures as part of the commemorations.

The Eight Registered Structures and How to Walk Them

The eight Registered Tangible Cultural Properties at Nagata Shrine carry consecutive numbers, 31-0246 to 31-0253, and were registered together in the 91st round. The Council for Cultural Affairs had recommended them to the education minister on 20 July 2018.

Two different criteria were applied. Only the main hall was registered as a model of form; the other seven were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. Tottori Prefecture's summary explains why they belong together: the heihaiden stands in front of the main hall and is joined to it through the middle gate, the lattice fence encloses the main hall, and the gates and halls further out give the whole precinct its solemn order.

Every building faces west. Walking in from the west along the approach, you first pass the prayer hall and the purification pavilion facing each other across the path just before the Shinmon gate. Beyond the gate stands the heihaiden, and behind it the middle gate opens in the centre of the lattice fence. The main hall sits at the very back, and the shinsenjo stands to its north, facing south.

In floor area the prayer hall is the largest at 46 square metres, followed by the heihaiden at 41, the shinsenjo at 25, the main hall at 17 and the purification pavilion at 7.0. The Shinmon gate is 3.3 metres wide, the middle gate 2.4 metres, and the fence runs for 41 metres.

The sources do not agree on every date. The Agency places the main hall and heihaiden in the late Edo period, a range of 1751 to 1830. The shrine gives 1741 for their completion, while the Tottori Association of Shinto Shrines says the present main hall was built in 1788. For the fence and the shinsenjo, the shrine's dates differ from the Agency's by one year. This site follows the Agency and notes the alternatives on each building's page.

Getting to Nagata Shrine and Visiting

Nagata Shrine adjoins the south side of the Tottori Castle ruins in Kyūshō Park. The shrine suggests taking a Hinomaru bus from JR Tottori Station to the Kyūshō Kōen-mae stop, then walking about 3 minutes. The city tourism site also lists the 100-yen Kururi loop bus (green route) to Shiritsu Budōkan, about 7 minutes' walk away, or a regular bus of about 5 minutes to Kenchō Nisseki-mae, then about 10 minutes on foot.

By car, the shrine puts it about 10 minutes from the Tottori interchange. There is a car park for worshippers in the grounds, though the shrine asks visitors not to park there over New Year for safety reasons.

The grounds are open to anyone and souvenir photographs are fine, but during prayers and weddings you should follow the priests' instructions. All eight registered buildings are in ritual use, and Tottori Prefecture lists their interiors as closed to the public. The only way inside is to request a prayer ceremony at the shrine office and be admitted to the worship hall. Priests are sometimes away for ceremonies, so call ahead if you want a prayer.

The main event of the year is the grand festival and Kangakusai, with an evening rite on 8 May and the main ceremony on 9 May. What to look for at each building, and how much of it you can see, is covered on the individual pages.