Ube Shrine

What Is Ube Shrine?

Ube Shrine (宇倍神社, Ube Jinja) is the ichinomiya, or leading shrine, of the old province of Inaba, standing in Kokufu-cho Miyanoshita, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture; founded according to tradition in 648, it has four structures that were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 6 March 2024: the Main Hall, the Worship Hall, the Gate and the Lattice Fence. The shrine itself writes its address as Kokufu-cho Miyashita. Its deity is Takenouchi no Sukune, a legendary minister said to have served five early emperors.

The buildings sit on a low rise at the southwestern foot of Mount Inaba, about 4 kilometers southeast of Tottori Station. Below the hill lie the sites of the ancient provincial government office and the provincial temple, so Ube Shrine stands at what was once the administrative center of Inaba.

The tenth-century Engishiki register lists Ube Shrine as the only shrine of the highest rank, a myōjin taisha, in the province. In 1871 the Meiji government placed it among the national shrines of the middle grade. According to the Tottori Association of Shinto Shrines, the buildings burned during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's siege of Tottori Castle at the end of the sixteenth century and were rebuilt in the Edo period with support from the Ikeda lords of Tottori.

The Four Registered Structures

All four were registered together on 6 March 2024, in the 106th round of registrations, under consecutive numbers 31-0283 to 31-0286. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the following dates and sizes.

• Main Hall: built 1898, altered 1908. Single storey, cypress-bark roof, building area 31 square meters
• Worship Hall: built 1884, altered 1999. Single storey, cypress-bark roof, building area 35 square meters
• Gate: built 1915, altered in the early Showa period. Timber, cypress-bark roof, 3.0 meters wide
• Lattice Fence: built 1922, altered in the early Showa period and in 1973. Timber, copper roof, 61 meters long

The Main Hall and the Worship Hall were registered as buildings that serve as models of form; the Gate and the Lattice Fence were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. In other words, the two halls were valued for their design and the gate and fence for the setting they create around them.

The shrine's own grounds map dates the registration to 2023, the year the Council for Cultural Affairs recommended it. The official registration date in the government gazette, and in the agency database, is 6 March 2024, which is the date used here.

How the Grounds Are Laid Out

The buildings of Ube Shrine stand in a single east-west line: the Gate, the Worship Hall, an offering hall (heiden) and the Main Hall. The Main Hall faces east, the Worship Hall stands in front of it, and the Gate stands in front of the Worship Hall. The offering hall links the two halls and is not part of the registration; the Lattice Fence runs back from both of its sides and closes around the Main Hall.

The approach begins at a torii gate among houses. The Tottori Association of Shinto Shrines says the hilltop is reached by 130 stone steps. At the top are the purification basin and then the Gate; pass through it and the Worship Hall is straight ahead, with the Main Hall behind it inside the fence, each building a little further back and a little higher than the last.

To the left of the main buildings are the shrine office, a small treasure house and the subsidiary Kō Shrine. Behind the Main Hall rises a knoll called Kamegane-no-oka, where a pair of stones known as Sōriseki marks the spot where the deity is said to have left his sandals and vanished. The grounds cover about 25,000 square meters.

A Shrine on Japan's Banknotes

Ube Shrine is best known in Japan as a shrine that appeared on the national currency. The Tottori Association of Shinto Shrines lists five-yen and one-yen notes issued in 1899, 1916 and 1943 that show the shrine together with a portrait of Takenouchi no Sukune. The shrine describes the 1899 five-yen note as the first time any Japanese shrine appeared on a banknote.

Sources differ on which building appears on which note. The Tottori Prefectural Tourism Federation says the 1899 note shows the Worship Hall, while the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Gate as a gate that once featured on a banknote. The Gate was finished in 1915, so if it does appear, it must be on a note issued after that year. Anyone interested in a specific design should check it against the issuer's own records.

Visiting Ube Shrine

The grounds of Ube Shrine are open to worshippers, and all four registered structures can be seen from the grounds. The official website does not list any admission fee. The amulet counter, which also writes goshuin seals, is staffed from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and prayer ceremonies are accepted until 4:00 p.m.

You can only go inside the Worship Hall when attending a prayer ceremony or a wedding. The shrine asks that no photos or video be taken during ceremonies, so put your camera away if a rite is under way. The Main Hall stands inside the Lattice Fence and cannot be entered.

On 20 and 21 April each year, the eve and the day of the main festival, the kirin shishimai lion dance, an intangible folk cultural property of Tottori Prefecture, is performed. The grounds are busy then, so pick another day if you want to study the buildings quietly.

Getting to Ube Shrine

The nearest railway station is JR Tottori Station. From there, take a Hinomaru Bus local service bound for Nakagawara and get off at Miyanoshita. The Tottori City tourism site gives the ride as about 15 minutes and the Tottori Prefectural Tourism Federation as about 20; from the stop it is a walk of a few minutes to Ube Shrine. A taxi from the station takes about 15 minutes.

By car, the prefectural tourism federation gives about 25 minutes from the Tottori interchange of the Tottori Expressway. According to the Tottori City tourism site, parking is free, with space for 117 cars and 6 buses. Groups arriving by coach are asked to contact the shrine in advance.