This is the self-built temporary Shinto shrine in a depopulated village in the mountainous area of kochi in Japan. For over 200 years the village used to have nine houses making up the kanamine shinto community, with a shrine set up in the upper part of the forest. However, the village started to lose its population, resulting in only one house and a neglected shrine that in 2015 was deeply injured by a heavy typhoon. In 2016 the worship structure faced a crisis and collapsed, so the inhabitants, together with the Kochi University of Technology located nearby, decided to construct a temporary shrine in the houses area.

Courtesy of Kikuma Watanabe

Architects: Kikuma Watanabe
Location: Kami, Kochi Prefecture, Japan

Area: 8.0 sqm

Project Year: 2016

Photographs: Courtesy of Kikuma Watanabe

Structural Engineer: Syunya Takahashi + D Environmental Design System Laboratory

Construction: Environmental Design of Architecture Lab. of Kochi University of Technology

Owner: Inhabittants of Nakagonyu + Kochi University of Technology

Site Area: 315.77 sqm

Total Floor Area: 4.05 sqm

Courtesy of Kikuma Watanabe

From the architect. This is the self-built temporary Shinto shrine in a depopulated village in the mountainous area of kochi in Japan. For over 200 years ...