Keywords
Architecture
Shrines
Also shashike 社司家 or shakeshū 社家衆.
1 A hereditary line of Shinto priests of various ranks.
2 The residences both within and outside the precincts of the shrine in which the priests live. Usually such residences form a village called *shakemachi 社家町. In the Edo period there were almost 300 such dwellings located in front of the Kamo Wakeikazuchi Jinja 賀茂別雷神社 (well-known Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社) in Kyoto. Now only about 30 remain along the narrow Myōjin 明神 River which flows beside Fujinoki 藤ﾉ木 street. Access to each residence is provided via a stone bridge over the stream. The gates have tiled roofs. Other examples can be seen at Fujiyoshida 富士吉田 in Yamanashi Prefecture and Miyajima 宮島 in Hiroshima Prefecture.