Encyclopedia of Shinto

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詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 3. Institutions and Administrative Practices
カテゴリー2： Shrine Economics
Title
Keidaichi
Text
Land on which a shrine located. The term shrine encompasses in this case the immediate shrine buildings as well as other constructions and edifices located on its grounds. Furthermore, shrines require land and space to maintain the shrine's dignity and places to perform rites and for public worship. This land and space is called the keidaichi. An older term for keidaichi is shiishi. These terms do not necessarily refer only to the sacred space of a shrine in the narrow sense, such as the shaden (the main shrine buildings) and the sandō (the entrance path to a shrine). But in 1871, following the order for shrine and temple lands to be returned to the court (Shajiryō jōchi rei), all shrine lands other than the keidai were to be returned, and the keidai became legally defined as we know it today: an area limited to the immediate surroundings of the shrine buildings. Before World War II there were legal limits on the size of the keidaichi. Imperial and National shrines (kankoku heisha) were limited to 5,000 tsubo (a tsubo equals about 3.3 square meters), prefectural shrines to 1,500 tsubo, district shrines (gōsha) to 1,000 tsubo, and village shrines to 700 tsubo. Acquisition of land that exceeded these limits required government permission. The keidaichi is defined in the Religious Corporations Law (Shūkyō Hōjinhō) as follows: (1) the land on which shrine buildings sit; (2) the sandō (approach to a shrine); (3) land and fields used for ritual; (4) gardens, forests, and other land used to maintain the shrine's dignity; and (5) land historically connected to the shrine.

— Sakamoto Koremaru

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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