What to see
The precincts of 7,000 tsubo are located in the center of the city, but are surrounded by a lush green shrine forest, and welcome you with a different look from season to season.Many buildings, such as the Gongen-zukuri shrine built by Tsunayoshi Tokugawa, the fifth shogun of the Edo period, have survived numerous disasters such as wars and earthquakes.In the precincts that retain the scenery of Edo, please visit while feeling the power of the Tokugawa shogunate and the history of the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism.
The monument on the Front approach to the shrine reads “former imperial festival,” indicating the history of the shrine as an imperial festival shrine.
It was built to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the transfer of the shrine to the new location.
This is the only remaining tower gate of a shrine in Edo. It is said that the Zuijin enshrined on the right side of the gate is Mito Komon. All seven Important Cultural Properties are painted with real lacquer.
This type of gate, with karahafu (Chinese gables) on both gable ends, is called a hirakaramon. Although it does not remain today, there is an ink painting of a dragon on the ceiling.
Dedicated by the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi Tokugawa in 1706, this building is a model of the Gongen-zukuri style. The hall of worship is in front of you when you visit the shrine.
The highest building at the far end is main shrine, the residence of the deities. The intermediate building between the hall of worship and the main hall is called the “heiden,” or hall of offerings, and these three buildings together are called the gongen-zukuri style.
This is a gate in the form of a munamon, a simple two-legged gate that lacks structural strength and is therefore rare and precious.
The wall surrounding the hall. It is so named because the inside can be seen through the windows, which are made of thin wood and assembled in a diamond shape. The 200-meter-long wall has remained undistorted over 300 years, and a recent survey revealed that the foundation has been laid to a depth of 8 m below ground level.
It was written by Prince Takahito Arisugawa (1812-86).
It is said that a white snake, a divine messenger, made its home there, and when people made a wish, their wishes were mysteriously granted.
The shrine’s traditional Shinto music and dance “Sanza-no-mai”, which is designated as an intangible cultural asset of Bunkyo Ward, is dedicated to the deity.
The approach to Otome Inari is lined with many dedicated torii gates.
An elevated deck(or stage) with a small shrine in thecenter where Inari, the god of harvest, is deified. This is famous for matchmaking.
Before Nezu Shrine was relocated from Sendagi Village, this shrine was the guardian deity of Kofu Prime Minister Tsunashige Tokugawa when this area was his residence. The crest of hollyhock remains on the roof.
Prayer reception, and the awarding of votive cards, amulets, and red seals are available here.
Soseki Natsume and Ogai Mori were also Ujiko. The stone on which they sat during a walk in the precincts of the Shrine
This pedestal was converted from the pedestal used when Rintaro Mori (Mori Ogai), the army medical director, dedicated the spoils of war cannonballs to commemorate the victory in the Russo-Japanese War. Russian cannonballs of this diameter were on it, but disappeared due to wartime metal offerings.
The grounds are the site of the residence of Tsunashige Tokugawa, where his son Tsunayo (Ienobu, the 6th Shogun) was born. Ienobu’s placenta is buried there.
There was a popular folk belief during the Edo period that people would gather on the night of Koshin day of the calendar and spend the night without sleeping, and pagodas were erected at road junctions and other places. The pagoda was moved to Nezu Shrine when the road was widened.
This is a deity that protects the road from evil and is also called “Dosojin” (guardian deity of the road). The monument was originally erected on a mound in Komagome Oiwake, and was moved to Nezu Shrine when the road was widened.
The area to the east of the romon gate, which was originally a forest and a large stone yard, is being cleared and prepared.
The garden is open only during the Azalea Festival in April, and 3,000 azaleas of 100 varieties can be enjoyed for a long time during the festival period.
Swastikas can be seen everywhere in the shrine, a remnant of the Nezu Gongen Shrine of the Shinto Buddhist syncretism period.