Tarumi Saiō Tongū Site

Between the 9th and 14th centuries, every time a new Saiō—the unmarried imperial princess who served as high priestess of Ise Jingū—was appointed, she made a ceremonial journey from Kyoto to Ise that took three days and required 500 attendants. The Tarumi Saiō Tongū in what is now Kōka, Shiga Prefecture, was the first overnight lodging on that route, a temporary palace where the princess slept before continuing toward her five-year term of spiritual service. Today, the site is an excavated field with foundation stones and reconstructed pillars marking where imperial curtains once hung. What remains is not a shrine but the ghost of a passage—a place that existed only to facilitate a young woman’s transformation from princess to priestess.

The Saiō system was established in the 7th century during the reign of Emperor Tenmu, who instituted the tradition of sending an unmarried imperial daughter to serve as high priestess at Ise Jingū. The journey from Heian-kyō (Kyoto) to Ise became formalized during the Heian period (794-1185), with designated rest stations called tongū (temporary palaces) built along the route. The Tarumi Tongū was constructed as the first major stop, approximately 50 kilometers from the capital. Archaeological excavations conducted from 1979 to 1987 revealed the site’s layout: a rectangular compound of approximately 120 by 90 meters with multiple buildings, including the princess’s sleeping quarters, attendants’ lodgings, and ceremonial spaces. The journey itself was a ritual purification—the princess traveled in complete isolation from men, carried in a palanquin behind silk screens, transitioning from the secular imperial court to the sacred realm of the kami.

The Tarumi site itself did not enshrine a permanent kami, as it functioned as a temporary imperial lodging rather than a shrine. However, the entire Saiō journey was undertaken in service to Amaterasu Ōmikami, the sun goddess and supreme deity of Shinto, enshrined at Ise Jingū. The Saiō served as Amaterasu’s human representative, performing rituals and maintaining spiritual purity on behalf of the imperial family. During her stay at Tarumi, the princess would have observed strict purification protocols, avoiding contact with death, illness, and Buddhist terminology—referred to through euphemisms as part of the imi-kotoba (taboo words) system. The journey transformed the princess from a member of the imperial household into a living vessel of divine connection.

The most poignant legend associated with the Saiō system is recorded in the Eiga Monogatari (Tale of Flowering Fortunes) and concerns Princess Shishi, daughter of Emperor Murakami, who served as Saiō in 975. During her journey to Ise, she stopped at Tarumi and composed a poem expressing her sorrow at leaving the capital: “Since I am going to serve the goddess, I should not look back, but my sleeves are wet with tears for the capital I leave behind.” The tension between duty and desire permeates Saiō literature—these young women, typically ages 10 to 14 at appointment, were removed from court life during their most formative years. Another account tells of a Saiō who, upon returning to Kyoto after her service ended, found that everyone she knew had aged or died, and she herself had become a stranger to court society. The Tarumi Tongū appears in these narratives as a threshold space—the last place where the princess could still see herself as belonging to the human world before crossing entirely into sacred service.

The excavated site reveals the standard architectural layout of a Heian-period tongū. The main residence (shinden) for the Saiō measured approximately 20 by 12 meters and was positioned at the center of the compound, surrounded by a corridor (rō) connecting subsidiary buildings. Postholes indicate that structures were built in the shinden-zukuri style typical of aristocratic architecture, with raised wooden floors, cypress bark roofing, and open spaces that could be partitioned with silk curtains and screens. A well was discovered in the northeastern section, likely used for ritual purification. The site is now maintained as an archaeological park with stone markers indicating where buildings stood and several reconstructed pillars showing the scale of the original structures. An adjacent museum houses artifacts recovered during excavations, including roof tiles bearing imperial crests, fragments of Sue pottery, and wooden implements used in daily service. The emptiness of the site is its most powerful feature—foundation stones trace the footprint of imperial presence that materialized once every few decades and then vanished.

• Saiō Procession Reenactment (May) — Local volunteers recreate the imperial procession in period costume, including attendants, court musicians, and a young woman representing the Saiō in a lacquered palanquin. The procession follows the historical route through Kōka.
• Autumn Historical Lecture Series (October-November) — Scholars present research on the Saiō system, Heian-period travel, and excavation findings. Lectures are held at the on-site museum.
• Cherry Blossom Viewing (April) — Though not a historical ritual, the surrounding park features cherry trees, and visitors often reflect on the ephemeral nature of the Saiō’s service during this season.

May, during the Saiō Procession Reenactment, offers the only opportunity to see the site animated with the movement and color of the Heian court. The procession departs from the reconstructed site in mid-morning, and the contrast between costumed participants and the empty foundations makes the historical absence more palpable. For contemplative visits, early autumn (September-October) provides clear weather and fewer visitors. The site is an open park with no admission restrictions, making sunrise visits possible—the low light emphasizes the shadows of the pillar reconstructions and the geometry of the foundation stones. Winter visits reveal the site’s isolation; snow occasionally covers the excavated areas, and the absence of foliage makes the layout more legible.