According to statistics, Tokyo is home to over 1800 Shinto shrines. You have your major shrines like Meiji-Jingu and Hie Shrine but there are many other tiny shrines, often unstaffed and nestled in the depths of back streets and behind buildings. Tearing down a shrine would be considered incredibly bad luck so many smaller shrines have survived urban development in a way that buries them behind buildings, accessible only through alleyways or backstreets. These ‘hidden’ shrines of Tokyo have fascinated urban explorers because stumbling onto one can feel like slipping into a surreal, parallel universe.
With help from urban explorer toshibo, we present to you, with location data, a few of Tokyo’s hidden shrines. But surely there are many more out there. Do you know of any?
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photos courtesy jinjyagoshuin.com
Shusse-Inari Shrine (Nihonbashi)
The Shusse-Inari Shrine is located near Ningyocho Station on the Asakusa Line. And if you aren’t looking for it you’ll almost definitely never find it because it’s situated behind an apartment building. To access it, you’ll have to walk through the bicycle parking lot of the apartment building, which feels a bit like trespassing, but we can take comfort in the fact that there is a stone totem and flag outside of the bicycle parking lot, which indicates a passageway to the shrine.
Founded in 1617, and rebuilt in 1931 after being destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, the Shusse-Inari Shrine was visited by Edo-era kabuki actor Danjuro Ichikawa, who prayed every day to make a name for himself. For that reason it’s apparently a popular spot for those trying to make it in the entertainment industry.
Exact location: google maps
Hanabusa Inari Shrine (Akihabara)
Hanabusa Inari Shrine is anachronistically located in Akihabara, Tokyo’s center of electronics and geeky toys. But even with a map, this one is hard to find. Sandwiched between electronics stores, cat cafes and maid cafes is a tiny shrine. Calling the path leading to the shrine an alley would be generous. You’ll have to squeeze your way through to get to this shrouded shrine, which is surprisingly well kept and even has its own twitter account.
Exact location: google maps (the alleyway extends through the block so the shrine can be accessed from two sides)
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photos courtesy jinjyagoshuin.com
Sakura Inari Shrine (Taito-ku)
Not too far from Akihabara is the Sakura Inari Shrine. While the shrine itself is set back behind buildings and out of sight, the narrow passageway, marked by a small torii and sandwiched between an Indian restaurant and a shop that does custom engravings, is rather hard to miss. Follow the lanterns towards the back and you’ll find a small shrine.
Although the exact date of its establishment is unknown, it was originally enshrined on the grounds of the Todo family, who had owned a suburban residence in Ueno for generations. However, after the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was abandoned and devastated. As legend has it, a yakuza by the name of Goichi Okamoto enshrined it as Sakura Inari Shrine in 1928.
Exact location: google maps
images courtesy Sankei
Mabashi Inari Shrine (Asagaya)
Mabashi Inari Shrine is actually a large and significant shrine located in residential Asagaya. But in 2015, when the shrine decided to build living quarters for their priests, they built a wall of apartments that largely blocked off the view of the shrine when approaching it from the east. However, they did create a passageway that tunnels through the apartments, resulting in a structure that resembles something from the film Spirited Away.
Exact location: google maps
images courtesy Sankei
Imamura-Saiwai Inari Shrine in (Hatchobori)
The Imamura-Saiwai Inari Shrine is in plain sight. But if you’re not careful you might walk right past it. Just steps from Hatchobori Station and off a busy intersection you’ll find an odd structure. Part small office building and part shrine, it’s a rare example of a shrine merging with another building; as if the gods just shrugged and decided to move in.
Exact location: google maps
June 18, 2023 at 5:24 pm
A wonderful vicarious adventure! Thank you.
June 21, 2023 at 11:57 pm
Check out Gilles Poitras’ new book Tokyo Stroll. It has detailed directions to many hidden shrines, including ones in between buildings, accessible only by alleyways.