and , also called Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version. (collectively known as The term ''setsumatsusha'' is the combination of the two terms ''sessha'' and ''massha''.) are small or miniature shrines entrusted to the care of a larger shrine, generally due to some deep connection with the enshrined ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

''. The two terms used to have legally different meanings, but are today

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are ...

. ''Setsumatsusha'' can lie either or the main shrine's premises. ''Setsumatsusha'' are usually 1x1 ''

ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

'' in size. They can however be as small as

beehives A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

or relatively large and have 1x2, 1x3 or even, in one case, 1x7 bays.

History

The practice of building ''sessha'' and ''massha'' shrines within a ''jinja'' predates

written history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

. The earliest ''setsumatsusha'' usually had some strong connection to the history of the area or the family of the enshrined ''kami''. During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner ...

used to make a distinction between the two types based on whether a shrine belonged to the

Engishiki The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of th ...

''Jinmyōchō'' list (''sessha'') or to the ''Enryaku gishikichō'' list (''massha''). From the Japanese Middle Ages onwards, at other shrines popular ''kami'' like

Hachiman In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements ...

, Inari or were often enshrinedThrough a process called '' kanjō'' in ''setsumatsusha'', but no clear distinction between the two terms was made. From the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

to the

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, a shrine dedicated to family members of a ''kami'', to the , or the ''kami'' of the region where the main shrine was, were to be considered ''sessha'' with a higher rank than the rest, which were called ''massha''. When the shrine ranking system was abolished in 1946, legally the distinction disappeared, but both terms remained in use out of habit.

Architectural style

Being true shrines, ''setsumatsusha'' have most features other types of shrines have, including doors and often stairs. However, the is a style normally used only in ''sessha'' and ''massha''. It owes its name to the fact that, unlike other shrine styles, it doesn't feature a stairway at its entrance, and the veranda is completely flat. Miniature stairways can however be present. They can be either , that is have the entrance under the gable, or, more frequently, , that is, have the entrance on the side parallel to the roof's ridge (see examples in the gallery). Apart from the lack of a staircase, such shrines belong to the ''

nagare-zukuri The or 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 (see photo).

'' or '' kasuga-zukuri'' styles.

Architectural examples

File:Hinomisaki-jinja sessha.jpg, A large ''sessha'' File:Kagami-no-miya-jinja. 01.jpg, A ''massha'' at

File:Katsuragi-jinja (Gose, Nara) massha.jpg, A row of ''massha'' File:Iwashimizu Hachimangu setummasha6.jpg, A ''hirairi'' ''sessha'' File:Aguchi-jinja setsumassha2.jpg, A ''tsumairi'' ''sessha''

Notes

References

{{Shinto shrine Shinto shrines Shinto architecture Japanese words and phrases