A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion.
In Shinto shrine architecture, the honden, also called shinden (神殿), or sometimes shōden (昇殿) as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined kami, usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a statue. The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public. In front of it usually stands the haiden, or oratory. The haiden is often connected to the honden by a heiden, or hall of offerings.
A gongen (権現), literally "incarnation", was believed to be the manifestation of a buddha in the form of an indigenous kami, an entity who had come to guide the people to salvation, during the era of shinbutsu-shūgō in premodern Japan. The words gonge (権化) and kegen (化現) are synonyms for gongen. Gongen shinkō (権現信仰) is the term for belief in the existence of gongen.
Shinto architecture is the architecture of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Sumiyoshi-zukuri (住吉造) is an ancient Japanese Shinto shrine architectural style which takes its name from Sumiyoshi Taisha's honden in Ōsaka. As in the case of the taisha-zukuri and shinmei-zukuri styles, its birth predates the arrival of Buddhism in Japan.
Nishina Shinmei Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Ōmachi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is the oldest extant example of shinmei-zukuri, one of three architectural styles which were conceived before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan. It predates in fact the more famous Ise Shrine, which shares the style and has been since antiquity rebuilt every twenty years. It was ranked as a Prefectural Shrine under the Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines.
Taisha-zukuri or Ōyashiro-zukuri (大社造) is an ancient Japanese architectural style and the oldest Shinto shrine architectural style. Named after Izumo Taisha's honden (sanctuary), like Ise Grand Shrine's shinmei-zukuri style it features a bark roof decorated with poles called chigi and katsuogi, plus archaic features like gable-end pillars and a single central pillar. The honden's floor is raised above the ground through the use of stilts . Like the shinmei-zukuri and sumiyoshi-zukuri styles, it predates the arrival of Buddhism in Japan.
Shinmei-zukuri (神明造) is an ancient Japanese architectural style typical of Ise Grand Shrine's honden, the holiest of Shinto shrines. It is most common in Mie Prefecture.
Kasuga-zukuri (春日造) is a traditional Shinto shrine architectural style which takes its name from Kasuga Taisha's honden.
The nagare-zukuri or nagare hafu-zukuri is a traditional Shinto shrine architectural style characterized by a very asymmetrical gabled roof projecting outwards on one of the non-gabled sides, above the main entrance, to form a portico. This is the feature which gives it its name. It is the most common style among shrines all over the country. That the building has its main entrance on the side which runs parallel to the roof's ridge makes it belong to the hirairi or hirairi-zukuri (平入・平入造) style.
The hachiman-zukuri (八幡造) is a traditional Japanese architectural style used at Hachiman shrines in which two parallel structures with gabled roofs are interconnected on the non-gabled side, forming one building which, when seen from the side, gives the impression of two. The front structure is called gaiden, the rear one naiden, and together they form the honden. The honden itself is surrounded by a cloister-like covered corridor called kairō' (回廊). Access is made possible by a gate called rōmon (楼門).
Ishi-no-ma-zukuri (石の間造), also called gongen-zukuri (権現造), yatsumune-zukuri (八棟造) and miyadera-zukuri (宮寺造), is a complex Shinto shrine structure in which the haiden, or worship hall, and the honden, or main sanctuary, are interconnected under the same roof in the shape of an H.
Ōsaki Hachimangū (大崎八幡宮) is a Shinto shrine in Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. The main shrine building has been designated a National Treasure of Japan.
Kibitsu Jinja (吉備津神社) is a Shinto shrine in the Kibitsu neighborhood of Kita-ku, Okayama in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is the ichinomiya of former Bitchū Province. The shrine’s main festivals are held on the second Sunday in May and October 15th each year.
Kibitsu-zukuri (吉備津造), kibi-zukuri (吉備造) or hiyoku irimoya-zukuri is a traditional Japanese Shinto architectural style characterized by four dormer gables, two per lateral side, on the roof of a very large honden (sanctuary). The gables are set at a right angle to the main roof ridge, and the honden is part of a single complex also including a haiden. Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan is the sole example of the style, although the Soshi-dō of Hokekyō-ji in Chiba prefecture is believed to have been modeled on it.
Ueno Tōshō-gū (上野東照宮) is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan.
The Serada Tōshō-gū (世良田東照宮) is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Ōta Gunma Prefecture, Japan. It enshrines the deified first Shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu. In the year 2000, it was one of the eleven sites connected with the Nitta-no-shō which were collectively designated a National Historic Site of Japan.
Mikami Shrine) is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Yasu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The kami worshipped at this shrine is Ame-no-mikage-no-mikoto, Amaterasu's grandson, who in legend, descended onto 432-meter Mount Mikami during the reign of Emperor Kōrei to become the shintai of the mountain.
Ōsasahara Shrine) is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Yasu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The kami worshipped at this shrine are Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Kushinadahime.
