Namiai jinja

Namiai Shrine, located in the former Namiai Village (now merged with Achi Village) near the southern end of Nagano Prefecture.
It enshrines Prince Yorinao, the grandson of Emperor Go-Daigo.
Prince Yorinao was a general of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-cho period and led an expedition to the eastern provinces.
In 1424, while traveling from Kozuke to Mikawa, he was attacked by the Northern Court forces and died in battle at Namiai.
A hill to the west of the shrine is said to contain the prince's head, and the grave site is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Agency.

Namiai is a mountainous area surrounded by lush greenery.
The shrine is built on a slope, with a long hill serving as the approach.
Three torii gates line the cedar-covered path to the shrine.
All of them are stone-made Myojin torii.

After passing the third torii gate, with the prince's grave on the left, the shrine grounds open up.
To the right is the shrine office.
To the left are the memorial tower built to honor Prince Yorinao, the monument by former Minister of the Imperial Household Watanabe Chikao, and the "Chokushi Sanko no Hi" commemorating Fujiwara no Kimitsu's visit as an imperial envoy to investigate the prince's deeds on behalf of Emperor Meiji.

The shrine consists of a worship hall with a gabled entrance and a main hall behind it.
The gabled worship hall is a common feature in the Minami-Shinano region, and Nami Shrine follows this same style.
The roof is adorned with katsuogi and chigi.

The main hall is built in the irimoya-zukuri style, with three bays between pillars in the front and two bays in depth.
It is an unpainted structure with a one-bay portico attached to the front of the main structure.
Such irimoya-zukuri main halls are rare in Nagano Prefecture, with another example being the main hall of Atsuta Shrine in Ina City.

It is believed that the rare irimoya-zukuri architectural style was chosen because of the presence of Prince Yorinao's grave in the same area, possibly to give the shrine a mausoleum-like aspect.
The front of the building features an openwork architrave with the sanctuary set back behind the central pillar.
The doorway is only in the central bay, and the width of the portico is narrower than that of the main structure.
Thus, the ends of the arched beam extend over the architrave of the main building, resulting in a unique construction method.

The grave of Prince Yorinao on the west side of the shrine grounds.
Several trees have grown from the central mound of earth.
The cool, tranquil shrine grounds, surrounded by trees, evoke a sense of history.