Atago Jinja

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Founded in 1603  by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Atago Jinja is an important shrine to the city of Tokyo, then Edo. Before all the buildings got really tall,. the cliff that Atago Jinja sits atop was once the tallest point in the city and therefore had a lookout for fires. In a city built of wood and paper, the need to identify fires was exponentially more important. The shrine is famous for one story where a young samurai on horseback rode up the stairs to the shrine to deliver the visiting shogun a branch of plum blossoms. It is said that the young samurai impressed the shogun and was promoted. The horse that the samurai rode was said to have taken only a matter of seconds to climb the stairway, while getting the horse back down took 45 minutes. Today, the shrine is associated with success whether it's business, personal, or academic; visitors climb the stairs and pray for success in future endeavors. Sound easy? You are so wrong. The stairs are called Shussei no Ishiden (Stone Steps to Success) and rise up 26 meters (85.3 feet) at a near vertical angle. Bravo if you can do it without stopping. 

For the casual: 8. For the educated: 8.

Try your skill at climbing these obnoxious stairs and then be rewarded with a small Italian bistro, a koi pond, a great view, and vending machines to quench your new insatiable thirst. This is definitely a feat of strength that will make you sore (the good kind) but deliver well deserved bragging points. So try it, take your time, and enjoy the beautiful gardens, pond, and shrine at the top of the cliff!

Do not be deceived. These stairs are very steep and very tall. Take your time and savor the view while catching a well earned breath.

The main shrine with a couple other smaller shrines off to the sides.

For extra goofiness, try to figure with your friends who wants to take the place of the horse in this cutout.

 

Hie Jinja

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Hie Jinja is a prominent shrine in Minato, but has been rebuilt and moved so many times that it is unclear when exactly it was originally founded. Originally a part of Edo Castle before it became the imperial palace in the center of Tokyo, Hie Jinja housed Hie no Kami, or the God of Mount Hie, a prominant mountain in Shiga prefecture and the home of the main Hie Jinja. Hie Jinja in Edo Castle was the home for the guardian deity of the castle and thereby the protecting deity of the city of Edo (modern day Tokyo). Today, it sits outside the old castle grounds next to the Japanese equivalent of the White House or 10 Downing Street. For this reason, there are a lot of police in the area. 

For the casual: 8. For the educated: 8.

Hie Jinja is in a pretty cool place with modern architecture, wider streets (a welcome change in such a dense city), and high end shops. If you didn’t know that you were nearing the Prime Minister’s residence, the security level in the area is slightly off-putting with dozens of police watching your every move over the course of several blocks. The shrine itself looks very similar to Kanda Jinja with its red orange paint scheme and gold fittings. The shrine holds several items of importance to Japanese culture: 1 sword which is a National Treasure with 13 other swords and a naginata which are Significant Cultural Objects. Naturally these are not on display to the public though I'm fairly certain that they will occasionally be sent around to museums and the like for public viewing every few years.

Looking out towards Minato from the top of a really cool bridge which leads up to the shrine equipped with outdoor escalators for visitors who have trouble with stairs.

 

Shiba Daijingû

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Located in the city of Minato only a few blocks from Zôjôji and Keio Daigaku (Keio University), Shiba Daijingû is a small shrine with a big name. Sometimes referred to as the "Kanto O-Ise-sama", Shiba Daijingû is a shrine to the sun goddess Amaterasu, also known as the mother of the Emperor, and Toyôkeno-Okami, the god of agriculture and harvest. It is built in a modern adaptation of traditional shrine architecture with a tile roof, forked finials, and large ballasts weighing the roof down from the beam. Because of this traditional architecture and association in particular with Amaterasu, it is compared to Ise Jingû, the holiest shrine in all of Japan and the greatest shrine to Amaterasu. 

For the casual: 5. For the educated: 9.

For all you history/culture buffs out there, I think this might be the only shrine in the Kanto area dedicated to Amaterasu. Though it is small and detached from much of the rest of the city, it's a great shrine to visit.

 

Hikawa Jinja

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Founded in 1730 by Tokugawa Yoshimune, this small shrine in Akasaka near modern day Roppongi would not come across to some as a major shrine in the Tokyo area, but it's history suggests otherwise since it was founded by one of the Tokugawa shoguns. Together with other shrines like Kanda Jinja, it creates a ring around central Tokyo.

For the casual: 4. For the educated: 4.

Hikawa Jinja is not a major beauty as a shrine. Sure its architecture is similar to that of Nezu Jinja and Nikko Tôshôgû, but the complex is very small and doesn't have the same presence as the other two. It is still a great little place to visit off the beaten path with a great grove of trees.

Looking at Hikawa Jinja from the street. There was a small ceremony (taboo to take photos) so no photo of the shrine itself.

 

Zeniarai Benzaiten

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Zeniarai Benzaiten is a shrine in the hills above Kamakura where visitors can wash money for good luck. Zeniarai literally means "coin washing" and it is believed that the value of whatever you wash will be doubled. The shrine was founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo after he had a dream that Benzaiten, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune, appeared in his dreams and ordered him to construct the shrine. The shrine was opened on the day of the snake, in the month of the snake, in the year of the snake, and Benzaiten is associated with snakes.

For the casual: 8. For the educated: 8.

This shrine is a little hard to get to because it's off of the main roads in town and the hill it's up is fairly steep, but once there, there are numerous small shrines to various deities. Even after the shrine is closed, there are still little bamboo-weave bowls for you to wash your money in. To wash your money, visitors enter the shrine cave where a wash bed is set up for money washing. If you happened to wash paper bills, there are drying stations where you place your money on top and the heat dries the money. Make sure you carry the money with you so that the good luck effects are put to use. To complete the cycle of good luck, the idea is to spend that special money on something important to you. I spent my money on a beautiful hand carved wooden bowl.

Waiting at the drying station for money to dry.

My friend Tulga improvising a purification thing because apparently washing the money in holy water wasn't enough.

 

Goryô Jinja

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Located near Hase-dera and Jojuin in Kamakura, Goryô Jinja is a small shrine dedicated to a prominent warrior in the late Heian period and early Kamakura period. The warrior's name was Gongoro Kagemasa and was known to the people of Kamakura as Gongoro-sama.

For the casual: 5. For the educated: 5. 

Since Goryô Jinja is in between Gokurakuji and Hase-dera, it's a great little shrine to stop by and check out. Decorated with arrow motifs, the shrine is clearly in honor of a warrior. Getting there is easy except for the occasional timing with the local trains that cross the path to the shrine only feet before the first tori gate. Though it's small and off the beaten path, I really enjoyed the environment of this shrine. It was incredibly peaceful and liberating to be in the shade of beautiful trees. As the seasons change there are flower gardens at the shrine which bring this small shrine into a hidden gem. The train as well was something fun to play with since crossing the tracks felt like crossing into a different realm, making the shrine feel just a little bit more unique. Be careful though, there are bells to signal that a train is approaching, but there are no barriers to stop you. So please play close attention to your surroundings when crossing.

Looking towards Goryô Jinja.