Kasuga-zukuri
Introduction The ''honden'' at Uda Mikumari Shrine Kami-gū is made of three joined ''Kasuga-zukuri'' buildings is a traditional Shinto shrine architectural style which takes its name from Kasuga Taisha's ''honden''.
Description It is characterized by the use of a building just 1x1 ''ken'' in size with the entrance on the gabled end covered by a veranda. In Kasuga Taisha's case, the ''honden'' is just 1.9 m x 2.6 m.Supporting structures are painted vermilion, while the plank walls are white. It has a  structure, that is, the building has its main entrance on the gabled side.The roof is gabled (), decorated with purely ornamental poles called ''chigi'' (vertical) or ''katsuogi'' (horizontal), and covered with cypress bark.After the ''nagare-zukuri'' style, this is the most common Shinto shrine style. While the first is common all over Japan, however, shrines with a ''kasuga-zukuri'' ''honden'' are found mostly in the Kansai region around Nara.If a diagonal rafter (a ) is added to support the portico, the style is called .
''Kasuga-zukuri'' and ''nagare-zukuri'' Fushimi Inari Taisha's ''honden''While superficially completely different, the ''kasuga-zukuri'' actually shares an ancestry with the most popular style in Japan, the ''nagare-zukuri''.The two for example share pillars set over a double-cross-shaped foundation and a roof which extends over the main entrance, covering a veranda. (The ''Kasuga-zukuri'' is the only ''tsumairi'' style to possess this last feature.) The foundation's configuration is typical not of permanent, but of temporary shrines, built to be periodically moved. This shows that, for example, both the ''nagare-zukuri'' Kamo Shrine and Kasuga Taisha used to be dedicated to a mountain cult, and that they had to be moved to follow the movements of the ''kami''. The styles also both have a veranda in front of the main entrance, a detail which makes it likely they both evolved from a simple gabled roof.
Gallery File:Hiraoka Shrine honden.jpeg|Hiraoka Shrine's ''honden''
See also * Glossary of Shinto
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