sumiyoshi-zukuri　住吉造

KEY WORD :　architecture / shrines

A style of main sanctuary *honden 本殿, in Shinto shrine architecture. It is 4-bays wide and 2-bays deep. The interior is divided in the center into two rooms. The front room is called the*gejin 外陣 and the rear room is called the *naijin 内陣. The building is characterized by a straight gable roof *kirizuma yane 切妻屋根, with deep over hanging eaves. Layers of cypress bark hiwada 桧皮, form a thick roof covering. The only entrance is centered on the front gable end *tsumairi 妻入. The peak of the roof has a box-like ridge with bird-perches *toribusuma 鳥衾, placed on top of a type of ogre tile *oni-ita 鬼板, which finish the ends. Straight forked finials okichigi 置千木 (see *chigi 千木), placed on the box-like ridge are set at a steep angle. The five billets are evenly spaced and, like all these members, covered with copper sheeting. Gold medallions adorn the center of the ogre tiles, the billet ends, and the side of the box-like ridge. The structural framework, visible on the exterior walls, reveals the roof support system in the gable ends. A central strut *sasuzuka 扠首束, is strengthened by a diagonal brace called *sasusao 扠首竿, or *inokosasu 豕扠首 on each side. These in turn are supported by transverse gable end beams *tsumabari 妻梁, which stretch across the building from corner pillar to corner pillar. Panel board *haneme-ita 羽目板, placed horizontally fill the exterior spaces between the pillars. The doors are plank itado 板戸. A non-penetrating hip tie beam *koshinageshi 腰長押, runs around the building level which has a relatively low floor. There are no verandas. About five steps lead up to the entrance. Two fences *mizugaki 瑞垣 and *tamagaki 玉垣, reminiscent of the Ise style, closely surround the building on three sides. A broad shallow worship hall *haiden 拝殿, with an undulating gable *karahafu 唐破風, and a dormer bargeboard *chidori hafu 千鳥破風, was added in the Edo period. This building and the short-roofed hall, watadono 渡殿, connecting the haiden with the honden are not part of the original Sumiyoshi style. A simple gate-like structure *torii 鳥居, painted vermillion except for the black painted top lintel *kasagi 笠木, and another elaborately painted gate, indicate the division between the haiden and the watadono. The torii and gate, which were probably originally undecorated, suggest that before the Edo period, people worshipped in front of them. The interior plan is divided equally into two spaces, front and rear, called a *gejin 外陣 and a *naijin 内陣 respectively. Short walls extend from the pillars centered on each side and are attached to pillars with a smaller diameter. A wood door closes the space in between. Several obvious similarities exist between the buildings in the Sumiyoshi style and the Yuki-in shouden 悠紀院正殿 and the Suki-in shouden 主基院正殿 situated in the front halves of the eastern and western precincts of the temporary Daijou palace *daijoukyuu 大嘗宮, constructed for The Great Food Offering Festival *daijousai 大嘗祭. The close resemblances between the sumiyoshi style and the Daijou palace suggest a palace lineage for the architectural style, one which allowed the gods and the emperor to dwell together under the same roof. Examples: Sumiyoshi Taisha Honden 住吉大社本殿 (1810) Osaka. Sumiyoshi Jinja 住吉神社, Fukuoka prefecture. Both are of these shrines reveal an old style, i.e. there is no veranda.

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