鞆の浦における社寺建築の建築年代と細部意匠 <原著論文>

Tomonoura is a famous port in japan that has prospered since ancient times, and historical towns and port installations remain in the Tomonoura area. Although Tomonoura is a narrow place enclosed by the mountain and the sea, it contains a significant number of shrines and temples. I investigated these buildings and here report on their years of construction and ornamental details.

It turned out that 14 of the buildings had been built in the 17th century, which makes them quite old compared with the other shrines and temples in Hiroshima. One theory for their abundance is that they originally represented merchants' financial power. The ornamentation of these buildings was more advanced and impressive than that of other regions in Hiroshima prefecture, possibly due to cutting-edge technology from Kyoto and Osaka that filtered into Tomonoura via the port.

One special feature of these buildings is a peculiar plinth block that was originally used the main hall of Myoo-in Temple. The presence of this plinth block illustrates the spread of ornamental details through-out the region.