Kubo Hachiman Shrine Subordinate Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall

What the Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall Is

Kubo Hachiman Shrine Subordinate Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall (窪八幡神社末社武内大神本殿), in the grounds of Kubo Hachiman Shrine in Kita, Yamanashi City, Yamanashi Prefecture, is a small sanctuary said to have been rebuilt in 1500 and designated an Important Cultural Property on February 18, 1949. It is a one-bay Nagare-zukuri building roofed in Hiwadabuki cypress bark.

Takeuchi Daijin is one of the subordinate shrines (massha) of Kubo Hachiman, standing beside the south end of the main hall. It honors Takeuchi no Sukune, the legendary minister said to have served Emperor Chūai and Emperor Ōjin, two of the deities of the main hall. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the reading of 武内大神 as Takeuchi Daijin.

The shrine chronicle Ōimata Jinja Hongi dates the rebuilding to 1500, the same year as the Kōra Shrine sanctuary, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs follows it, placing the hall in the late Muromachi period.

Why the Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall Matters

Yamanashi City says the Takeuchi Daijin sanctuary at Kubo Hachiman is regarded as a model of the small shrine sanctuary: its carved ornament traces graceful curves, and its kiwari, the system of member sizes and proportions, is bold and well balanced. For a building this small, the posts and beams never look thin, and the whole holds together.

It is plain, unpainted timber, yet it has a nine-step wooden stair and an upswept hane-kōran railing (Kōran) round the veranda, both matching the main hall next door. A minor shrine was finished to the same standard as the principal sanctuary.

What to Look For at the Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall

Up close, look for the carved ornament under the eaves and on the beam ends. Without paint, the curves that Yamanashi City praises stand out as pure line against the wood.

Then count the steps. Nine steps up to a one-bay sanctuary seems generous, until you notice that the Kubo Hachiman main hall looming behind has exactly the same number. The railing flicking upward at the end of the veranda is another point to compare.

The bare wood has weathered to a quiet tone, the opposite of the gold leaf and paint on the front of the main hall beside it.

Visiting the Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall

Kubo Hachiman Shrine Subordinate Takeuchi Daijin Main Hall stands beside the south end of the main hall, on the raised rear terrace of the grounds. The interior is closed, and the building is seen from outside. The Kōra Shrine sanctuary, south of the main worship hall, is a few steps away.

Directions to the shrine and general visiting information are gathered on the Kubo Hachiman Shrine page.