yūitsu shinmei zukuri 唯一神明造

Lit. "the unique shinmei style." A style of Shinto Shrine architecture characterized by the main sanctuaries *shōden 正殿 of the Inner and Outer Shrines, Kōtai Jingū 皇大神宮 Inner Shrine Naikū 内宮, Toyouke Daijingū 豊受大神宮 Outer Shrine Gekū 外宮, at Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮, in Mie Prefecture. According to some scholars, these two buildings, which are 3 x 2 bays and have an entrance on the long side parallel to the ridge, represent the oldest shinmei style. The floor is high above ground. Several steps lead up to the double-door entrance. Railings flank the steps. Low railings extend from the posts at the bottom of the steps to the top posts. Only the main sanctuaries of the Inner and Outer Shrines are surrounded by narrow verandas that have elaborate railings *kōran 高欄. The top railings are decorated with multicolored flame-shaped jewel-like forms suedama 据玉. These forms and the presence of ornamented metal fittings, also suggest a continental influence introduced to Japan by Buddhism between the 6th-8th century. In the shōden of the Inner Shrine, a sacred pillar, *shin-no-mihashira 心の御柱, is embedded in the ground beneath the floor. Although structurally insignificant and not extending above ground, a sacred mirror, symbolizing the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Ōmikami 天照大神, is placed in a boat-shaped container and enshrined directly above the point where the pillar is buried. The sacred pillar beneath the shōden of the Outer Shrine does extend somewhat above ground level. These pillars are regarded with particular reverence and suggest a connection with the use of single pillars onbashira 御柱, as indicators of sacred areas prior to the construction of shrine buildings. The bargeboards are made to fit smoothly by cutting away half the thickness of one so the other can be fitted flatly against it. The overlap of the bargeboards has the left one on top on the shōden of the Inner Sanctuary and the right one on top on the Outer Sanctuary. Differences also occur in the forked finials on these buildings: the ends of the former are terminated with a horizontal cut uchisogi 内削, indicating habitation by a goddess and those of the latter with a vertical cut sotosogi 外削, indicating habitation by a god. The billets, *katsuogi 堅魚木, vary in numbers with ten on the main sanctuary in the Inner Shrine and nine on that of the Outer Shrine.
A further difference between these two shōden is in the direction that the floor boards are laid: In the former, they are laid front to back, i.e., at right angles to the ridge; in the latter, they are laid parallel to the ridge. See *heiden 幣殿, *imibiyaden 忌火屋殿, *mikeden 御饌殿, *saikan 斎館.