Nishina Shinmei Shrine

{{Infobox religious building

| name = {{Nihongo|Nishina Shinmei Shrine|仁科神明宮|Nishina Shinmeigū}}

| image = Nishina Shinmei Shrine-Honden.jpg

| caption = Nishina Shinmei Shrine, Main Hall

| map_type = Japan Nagano Prefecture#Japan

| map_alt =

| coordinates = {{Coord|36|26|59.8|N|137|52|44.5|E|source:jawiki_region:JP_scale:20000|display=title,inline}}

| map_relief = 1

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| religious_affiliation = Shinto

| type =

| deity = Amaterasu

| founded_by =

| established = Kofun period

| date_destroyed =

| location =

| website = {{Official|1=http://www.sinmeigu.jp}}

| architecture_style = shinmei-zukuri,

| festival =

| leadership =

}}

{{Nihongo|Nishina Shinmei Shrine|仁科神明宮|Nishina Shinmeigū}} is a Shinto shrine in Ōmachi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is the oldest extant example of shinmei-zukuri, one of three architectural styles which were conceived before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan. It predates in fact the more famous Ise Shrine, which shares the style and has been since antiquity rebuilt every twenty years. It was ranked as a Prefectural Shrine under the Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines.

This style is characterized by an extreme simplicity. Its basic features can be seen in Japanese architecture from the Kofun period (250–538 C.E.) onwards and it is considered the pinnacle of Japanese traditional architecture.[http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=248 History and Typology of Shrine Architecture], Encyclopedia of Shinto accessed on November 29, 2009

It is most common in Mie prefecture. Built in planed, unfinished wood, the honden is either 3x2 ken or 1x1ken in size, has a raised floor, a gabled roofA gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall enclosed between the edges of a sloping roof. with an entry on one the non-gabled sides ({{nihongo|hirairi or hirairi-zukuri|平入・平入造}}), no upward curve at the eaves, and purely decorative logs called chigi (vertical) and katsuogi (horizontal) protruding from the roof's ridge.JAANUS, [http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/shinmeizukuri.htm Shinmei-zukuri] accessed on December 1, 2009