Oyama Shrine

photo by そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by cattan2011 · CC BY 2.0

Its three-storey gate, with coloured glass, served as a lighthouse for ships in 1875.

Visitors look up at a three-storey gate that mixes stone arches, copper-clad walls and coloured glass on the top level: that glass, the sources say, served as a light signal for incoming ships, although today the buildings around it block the view of the sea. On the roof is the oldest lightning rod still in existence in Japan, installed together with the rest of the structure in November 1875 by the master builder Tsuda Kichinosuke.

The shrine was founded in 1873 to venerate Maeda Toshiie, the founder of the Kaga domain, and his wife Omatsu. The gate (神門) was completed in November 1875 in an unusual style that mixes Western, Chinese and Japanese elements (Tomuro stone on the first level, copper and glass on the two upper ones) and has been classified as a national Important Cultural Property since 29 August 1950.

ℹ️ The shrine grounds are public and always accessible; the omamori office is open 9:00–17:00. Evening illumination of the gate from sunset to 22:00. Shrine car park with 15 spaces, not suitable for buses; about 5 minutes by bus from Kanazawa Station.

🚉 Hokutetsu Kanazawa · 20 min walk

Sources: www4.city.kanazawa.lg.jp · ja.wikipedia.org · kanazawa-kankoukyoukai.or.jp

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