Also written 籬垣, 水垣. A fence. Originally, mizugaki referred to a fence composed of trees surrounding a forest or mountain where the spirit of a deity dwelt. During the *Kofun jidai 古墳時代, it was a fence placed around the abodes of an emperor and other sacred precincts. With the introduction of Buddhism, the term came to refer to the fence surrounding the *honden 本殿, wherein the spirit of the deity revered at a shrine was thought to dwell. At Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮, the holiest of shrines, Naikū 内宮 (inner shrine) and Gekū 外宮 (outer shrine), are surrounded by four fences. However, an illustration of Naikū dated 1709 that appears in Watarai Nobutsune's 度会延経, Naigekū densha-zu 内外宮殿舎図, showing a fifth fence added to the front part of the shrine. The innermost fence is called mizugaki. It is arranged in sections of vertically set boards with every sixth one extending above the other five. Although the boards fit together tightly along the top, they are distinguished by six cuts forming a design of dentils. Example: Ise Jingū Naikū; Gekū, in Mie Prefecture; Sumiyoshi Taisha 住吉大社 (Edo period) in Osaka. At Sumiyoshi Taisha, there are four small identical shrine buildings but they are surrounded by only two fences. The boards of the mizugaki are set vertically. They are painted red-orange with tops cut into points which are painted black.
