Photo by Russ Carmack
A new wooden Shinto shrine crafted in Japan is now on display in Point Defiance Park’s Japanese Garden, carrying on a decadeslong tradition of friendship between Tacoma and its sister city, Kitakyushu, Japan.
The 5-foot-tall shrine replaces the original, which Kitakyushu gifted to Tacoma in 1961. Unlike the original, which was painted red, the new shrine features natural wood and simpler carvings.
Photo by Russ Carmack
Visitors can see the shrine in the garden for about two weeks before it’s moved indoors for the winter to protect it from the weather.
The original shrine was first displayed on the Washington State Historical Society grounds before moving to Point Defiance Park in 1982. After decades of rain and wear, it was too damaged to restore easily.
In 2022, Parks Tacoma teamed up with the Tacoma Sister City Commission and Tacoma Parks Foundation to find a way to preserve the shrine. When restoration estimates from U.S. specialists in traditional Japanese carpentry proved too expensive, the groups turned to Japan for help.
That’s where Noritaka Kondo came in. A master shrine builder with more than 40 years of experience, Kondo traveled to Tacoma in September 2024—leaving his own country for the first time —to inspect the original shrine.
“I genuinely feel that the god inside of the Point Defiance Park shrine in a way summoned and requested me to provide a solution,” Kondo said. “In my heart, this is an assignment requested by the gods.”
He proposed building a new one while also restoring the original.
Kondo’s students helped draw up the plans, and he spent six months carving the replacement by hand before it was shipped to Tacoma. The new shrine is valued at $40,000, with the Tacoma Parks Foundation raising money over several years to cover the cost.
Shinto is a Japanese faith centered on kami, or spirits believed to inhabit natural features and sacred objects. Shrines provide a place for people to pray and seek blessings.
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