Kameari Katori’s 740th Year Anniversary, Kameari Katori Shrine Project
This is a project in celebration of the 740th anniversary of the enshrinement of Kameari Katori Shrine, including rebuilding of the shrine office building, the construction of a cafe, barrier-free access to the precincts of the shrine, and illumination.
Kameari Katori shrine has been a site of worship for the surrounding community since ages past, but due to the convenience of the area and the development of a large shopping facility nearby, there has been an influx of people from both the local community and from other prefectures, and thus the shrine’s insufficient facilities and deterioration have become issues in welcoming visitors.
The shrine office was originally separated from the main building, but the new office will be set much closer, and a conferment counter, business office, assembly hall that can be separated into three parts, and a ramp and elevator to bypass the steps into the main building have been added.
The folded-plate roof set up to avoid the tall trees around the area of the shrine’s main building is shorter than the building itself, and as you advance into the interior, you make a turn from the entrance hall and advance toward the shrine. Upon entering the interior, the path toward the main building is set up to increase anticipation, as it leads you beneath a sloping cypress ceiling.
The cafe, like the shrine office building, is positioned to view the shrine’s plaza area. They’ve invited Chef Igarashi of the World Pastry Cup champion “La Rose des Japonaise,” and the shrine has become a place of pleasant conversation or entertainment on the lines of Nakamise for the shrine’s visitors.
You can see children playing in the plaza after finishing their worship, and the scenery truly embodies the ideals of the chief priest.
photo:FUMITO SUZUKI
