page_title: Isonokami Shrine
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Isonokami Shrine / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: This photograph shows a gate at Isonokami Jingu, a Shinto shrine (jinja) in the city of Tenri, Nara Prefecture, Japan. I took the photograph.
context_page_description: Isonokami Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in the hills of Furu in Tenri, Nara prefecture, Japan. It is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrines in Japan and has housed several significant artifacts.
  Isonokami shrine was highly regarded in the ancient era, and frequented by many members of the Imperial Family. It played a pivotal role in Japan's early history, especially during the 3rd to 5th centuries.
  The shrine is at the northern end of the Yamanobe no michi, the oldest road in Japan.
context_section_description: Isonokami shrine is surrounded by Cryptomeria (sugi), and is known for its quiet solemnity. A waka poem from the Man'yōshū anthology mentions Isonokami shrine, surrounded by holy cedar trees.
  The current site of Isonokami shrine may have been the site of an earlier religious structure, the Izumo-taisha. This is suspected because of a secondary shrine to Izumo-takeo found near the main shrine, but on higher ground.  Since secondary shrines are never built higher than the principal shrine, some have concluded that it was an older structure that stood before the current one.
  The honden, or main hall, is built in the nagare-zukuri style.
caption: Gate to the Isonokami Shrine
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