Sessha (摂社,auxiliary shrine) andmassha (末社,undershrine), also callededa-miya (枝宮,branch shrines)[1] (collectively known assetsumatsusha (摂末社)[2][note 1]) are small or miniature shrines entrusted to the care of a larger shrine, generally due to some deep connection with the enshrinedkami.[3]
The two terms used to have legally different meanings, but are todaysynonyms.Setsumatsusha can lie either inside (境内摂末社,keidai setsumatsusha) or outside (境外摂末社,keigai setsumassha) the main shrine's premises.Setsumatsusha are usually 1x1ken in size. They can however be as small asbeehives or relatively large and have 1x2, 1x3 or even, in one case, 1x7 bays.[4]
The practice of buildingsessha andmassha shrines within ajinja predateswritten history. The earliestsetsumatsusha usually had some strong connection to the history of the area or the family of the enshrinedkami.
During theHeian period,Ise Shrine used to make a distinction between the two types based on whether a shrine belonged to theEngishikiJinmyōchō list (sessha) or to theEnryaku gishikichō list (massha).[5]
From theJapanese Middle Ages onwards, at other shrines popularkami likeHachiman,Inari or Gozu Tennō (牛頭天王) were often enshrined[note 2] insetsumatsusha, but no clear distinction between the two terms was made. From theMeiji period to theSecond World War, a shrine dedicated to family members of akami, to the violent side of a kami (荒魂,aramitama), or thekami of the region where the main shrine was, were to be consideredsessha with a higher rank than the rest, which were calledmassha.[5] When theshakaku (社格) shrine ranking system was abolished in 1946, legally the distinction disappeared, but both terms remained in use out of habit.
Betsugu are another kind of auxiliary shrine their relationships to the main shrine are similar to that of Massha and Sessha.[6] The term is most notable for the extensive betsugu atIse Grand Shrine.[6]
Being true shrines,setsumatsusha have most features other types of shrines have, including doors and often stairs. However, theMisedana-zukuri (見世棚造 or 店棚造,showcase style) is a style normally used only insessha andmassha. 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.[4] Miniature stairways can however be present. They can be eithertsumairi (妻入), that is have the entrance under the gable, or, more frequently,hirairi (平入), 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 thenagare-zukuri orkasuga-zukuri styles.
_massha.jpg)
Elements ofJapanese architecture | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Styles |
| |||||||||
| Types of building |
| |||||||||
| Roof styles | ||||||||||
| Structural and spatial | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Rooms | ||||||||||
| Furnishings | ||||||||||
| Partitions | ||||||||||
| Outdoor objects | ||||||||||
| Measurements | ||||||||||
| Organizations | ||||||||||
| Related topics |
| |||||||||
