Category:

Municipally Designated Tangible Folk Cultural Property

Title:

Atagojinja no sangaku

The Calculation Plaque of Atago-jinja Shrine

愛宕神社の算額

No. of features:

One tablet

Designated:

March 8, 1968

Location:

1167 Mikura, Minuma Ward

Owner:

Atago-jinja Shrine

Description:

   “Sangaku” (lit. “calculation plaque”) are a type of votive tablet from the Edo period (1603-1868). Scholars of Japanese mathematics (“wasan”) created sangaku by painting geometrical puzzles and theorems onto wooden boards. They would then donate the boards to temples and shrines to show thanks after solving a difficult problem or as a means of sharing mathematics with the masses.

The sangaku of Atago-jinja Shrine was dedicated in March of 1801, making it the oldest surviving calculation plaque in Saitama City. It is 52 cm tall, 91 cm wide, and crafted in the “roofed” style. Excessive damage has made it difficult to decipher, but we can determine that it was donated by Kojima Otokichi (?), a resident of the Mikura area.

Associated Texts:

(1986). “Cultural Properties in Omiya” (vol. 2). Omiya Board of Education.

This cultural property is not available for public viewing.

Inquiries (Japanese only)

Cultural Heritage Preservation Division, Department of Lifelong Learning, Board of Education Secretariat　

TEL：048-829-1723 FAX：048-829-1989

https://www.city.saitama.jp/004/005/006/001/019/003/003/p000447.html