Niutsuhime Shrine Main Sanctuary

Niutsuhime Shrine's four-hall main sanctuary was reconstructed in 1469 in the architectural style of the earlier Kamakura period and remains largely unchanged. The roof is built from thousands of two-millimeter-thick strips of hinoki cypress bark, compressed into a thick waterproof layer. The brilliant vermillion color references cinnabar, an ore historically used to make red pigment that was believed to repel evil. The carved ornamentation is denser than at most shrines, with dragons, elephants, shishi lion-dogs, and the ogarasu crow on the horizontal beams and eaves. Legend holds that the ogarasu helped protect Japan's shores during the 13th-century Mongolian invasions.