zuijinmon 随神門

Keywords
Architecture
Gates

Middle gates *chūmon 中門 with statues of Zuijin 随神, shrine guards clothed in court dress and holding bows and arrows. Sometimes they are called yadaijin 矢大臣 or sadajin 左大臣 and are considered to be the gods who guard the gates, Kadomori no kami 門守の神. At Kibitsu Jinja 吉備津神社 (14th century) in Okayama Prefecture, zuijimon is an eight-legged gate *hakkyakumon 八脚門, with 3-bays and one entrance in the center bay and is in the hip-and-gable style *irimoya-zukuri 入母屋造. The side bays have a board and batten ceiling *saobuchi tenjō 竿縁天井, but the center bay has an open ceiling *keshō yaneura 化粧屋根裏. The gable pediments are in the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様, and use rainbow beams *kōryō 虹梁, and bottle struts *taiheizuka 大瓶束. The bracket complexes are 3-on-1 and set at right angle to each other *demitsudo 出三斗. Examples include the south gate Minamizuijin mon 南随神門 (1357), and the northgate Kitazuijin mon 北随神門, at Kibitsu Jinja. They are both the same type, but the latter has a cypress bark roof hiwadabuki 桧皮葺. These gates are older than the main sanctuary, Honden 本殿, which is dated 1425. The *Yōmeimon 陽明門 at Nikkō Tōshōgū 日光東照宮 (1636) in Tochigi Prefecture is also a zuijinmon. The zuijinmon corresponds to the *niōmon 二王門 at various temples.