Hokoku Shrine

Toyokuni Shrine is commonly known as Senjōkaku ("Hall of One Thousand Tatami Mats"). It is the largest wooden building on Miyajima, a grand gabled (irimoya-zukuri) structure. The name Senjōkaku comes from its size—large enough to lay out 857 tatami mats.
In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi vowed to have it built as a place to recite the Senbukyō sutras for the repose of warriors’ souls, and he ordered Ankoku-ji Ekkei to construct it. However, because Hideyoshi died suddenly in 1598, construction was halted, and to this day the hall has no ceiling except above the sacred seat. Later, in the Edo period, it became beloved as a place for social gatherings and enjoying the summer cool, and the large pillars bear inscriptions such as kabuki actors’ names and senryū verses. During the Meiji-era Shinto-Buddhist separation, the main images—the Shakyamuni Buddha, Ānanda, and Mahākāśyapa—were moved to Daigan-ji, and it became Toyokuni Shrine, enshrining Hideyoshi and Katō Kiyomasa. Access to Toyokuni Shrine (Senjōkaku) is about a 10-minute walk from Miyajima Pier. It sits on a hill beside Itsukushima Shrine, and from the corridor you can look out over Itsukushima Shrine. Right next door is the Itsukushima Shrine Five-Story Pagoda.