What is Ujigami-jinja Shrine

Ujigami-jinja Shrine is registered as UNESCO World Heritage.

History

It says Ujigami shrine was established in 901 by the order of an emperor of at that time. However there is no specific record to prove the year of the construction. With the scientific analysis of the materials, the main hall is using the wood of 12th century.
In 1067, an emperor of the time was visit the shrine after visiting “Byodoin”. Ujigami jinja seems like, it was build as the village shrine of Byodoin. Near there, Uji shrine exist and it functional position was the opposite of the Ujigami shrine.

Features

Ujigami shrine which locates the east side of the Uji River, it has atmosphere just like in an old tail of Japan. When you go up the main rout to get to the shrine, first off all, there is a large red shrine entrance appears and it can see the buildings of the inner part of the shrine.

• Front building:After the red entrance, there is an admirable front building. This building is an important trail to know the architectural level of the time. A corn of the sand is the object to which a god spirit is drawn.
• Main building:The behind of the front building, there is a smaller building which is the main building. Normally, it’s not possible to entre to the main building. The main building is registered as the national treasure and the pictures of the door are the important cultural properties registered.
• Kasuga shrine:The East area of the main building there is a Kasuga shrine where deify the gods are deeply related with the god of the Ujigami shrine. This was built during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and registered as national treasure construction.