A Walk Around “Kanda Shrine” to Look for Hidden Spiritual Places; Seeking for Better Fortune of Business, Health and Love

“Kanda Shrine” (神田神社), located close to Akiharabara Station (秋葉原駅), is well known as a shrine where a festival ‘Kanda Matsuri’ (神田祭), one of the best three festivals in Tokyo is held. Though “Kanda Shrine” solely is worth visiting, there are other spiritual places you can ask for better fortune in the neighborhood. In this issue, let us suggest a route of your walk around “Kanda Shrine” on which you will find three shrines you can wish for good business, good health and good love. Why don’t you visit them in addition to “Kanda Shrine”?

<First to visit> Main and 6 shrines to give you a good luck in business and winning at “Yanagimori Shrine”, also known as a shrine featured in an anime series ‘Steins; Gate’

Let’s start a walk from “Yanagimori Shrine” (柳森神社) sitting along Sumida River (隅田川). Just walk on Kanda Fureai Bashi Bridge (神田ふれあい橋) from Akihabara Station and you’ll find the shrine. As this area used to be regarded as a direction through which the bad luck was coming, Ota Dokan (太田道灌) an architect of Edo Castle, was said to have founded this shrine, in Edo era. In recent years, the shrine came to be well known as an anime series ‘Steins; Gate’ (シュタインズ・ゲート) featured it. Despite the size of the site, there are seven gods enshrined in addition to its main god enshrined. Among the seven shrines, there is ‘Fukujushin’ (福寿神) founded by ‘Keishoin’ (桂昌院), a birth mother to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (徳川綱吉), the fifth shogun of Edo era. As she was born as a daughter in a farmer family and finally turned to be a birth mother to a shogun, praying at this shrine is believed to be leading to your winning in your business. Why a Japanese racoon dog is enshrined here is because the pronunciation of Japanese racoon dog, tanuki, is similar to that of an expression of winning others by competing.

Opening Hours	Ask the shrine for details
Address	2-25-1 Kanda Suda-cho, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Prefecture
Access	A 5-minute walk from Akihabara Station
URL	http://www.tokyo-jinjacho.or.jp/chiyoda/5543/

<Second to visit> “Hanafusa Inari Shrine”, wishing for a better business and disease-free luck, a shrine quietly standing you’ll find on an alley in Akihabara Electric Town

Reference from Jalan「Hanafusa Inari Shrine」

After having done with praying for a better business luck, let’s head to Akihabara Electric Town direction. Go behind AKB48 Theater, a dedicated theater for a group of idols named AKB48, and keep going through an significantly narrow alley, you will find “Hanahusa Inari Shrine” (花房稲荷神社). A truly hidden shrine that cannot be spotted from main streets. That is the real pleasure of exploring the back alleys of Tokyo. The details of how and when the shrine was founded were unknown, but it is said that it once had been built during the Edo era, and the current shrine was rebuilt after World War II. The god of business is enshrined here but neighbors believe that the god enshrined also has power for healing them from bad cold and coughing. Though there is no designated caretaker to the shrine, it is always clean and well-organized whenever you visit and that obviously shows the true and deep faith of worshippers.

Opening Hours	24 hours
Address	4-4-5 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-Ward, Tokyo Prefecture
Access	A 5-minute walk from Akihabara Station

<Third to visit> An impressive white shrine, “Tsumakoi Shrine” derived from a sad yet deep love story of gods of a wife and a husband

“Tsumakoi Shrine” (妻恋神社) is just a 3-minute walk away from Kanda Shrine. Although the year of foundation is unknown, it is said by generations that the shrine was founded to worship the story of sad love by the gods of a couple. The love story is like this. When ‘Yamato Takeru no Mikoto’ a god in mythology, was sailing to an enemy land, his boat suddenly was overtaken by a violent storm. In order to calm the god of storm and save ‘Yamato Takeru no Mikoto’, his wife jumped into the ocean. Sometime after that, when he got to stay in the neighborhood of this shrine, the neighbors founded it for feeling sorry for him deeply loving and mourning his wife. Because of the derivation of this shrine, people have believed that praying here leads to a better fortune of romance and love. When visiting here, why don’t you think of the sad yet deep love in the mythology and pray for your fortune of love.

Opening Hours	Ask the shrine for details
Address	3-2-6 Yushima, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo Prefecture
Access	A 16-minute walk from Akihabara Station
URL	http://www.tsumakoi.jp/index.html