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In the name of Mars, I will chastise you!
Today’s outing took me to Hikawa Jinja. It’s one of the seemingly endless atmospheric and beautiful Shrines hidden all over Tokyo, but might be best known as the inspiration for the Shrine in the anime version of Sailor Moon – the home of Sailor Mars, where the gang often gathered to shoot the breeze and discuss their adventures.
There are several Hikawa Jinja in Tokyo (the main Shrine is in Saitama) – the one in Azubu-Juban was the inspiration for the manga version but this one, sandwiched among embassies and mansions in the hills between Roppongi and Akasaka, is considered far more photogenic. It’s a mere babe by Jinja standards – it just celebrated its 300th birthday in fact – and was the personal Shrine of shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune. It’s not known if he was a Sailor Moon fan but he is considered one of the best of the Tokugawa Shoguns (not a great lot in general, it’s true). He established much-needed financial reforms and relaxed the ban on foreign books, opening Japan up to a flood of texts from abroad.
On the way to the train I stumbled upon Nogi Shrine, which I’d never heard of although it actually has its own subway stop on the Chiyoda Line. Taking this as kismet I naturally stopped and had a look around, and was rewarded with my first Sakura sighting of the season – this weeping cherry near the Korean Dogs guarding the entrance. Nogi Shrine is even younger – less than a Century old – and enshrines a legendary Japanese general, Nogi Maresuke, who committed seppuku with his wife on the day the Emperor died, rather than live on in a world without him. Not surprisingly, he’s become something of a hero to the Nationalist movement. But if one avoided any Shrine that had Nationalist connections in Japan, you’d be crossing an awful lot of gems off your list…
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Ronbb
March 25, 2014 at 4:50 amThere are really lots of shrines and temples there…it felt like you can find almost one in every corner of Tokyo. I like how much the shrines are preserved and offer a quiet and meditated space for the urban folks. Enzo, have you counted how many shrines and temples that you have visited since you have been there? I bet it's easily over 30.
admin
March 25, 2014 at 5:07 amCounting vacations, or just since I moved here? Either way it's way, way over 30.
Shrines especially are ubiquitous and omnipresent in Japan. You have to understand, some of them are literally a hole in the wall between two shops or houses. Just within about a 7-minute walk of my apartment there are at least 8 Shrines that I can recall off the top of my head, and probably more I'm forgetting or have yet to find. There are probably that many Temples too, but that's more than unusual as this is an old Temple Quarter from the Edo Period.
Ronbb
March 25, 2014 at 9:22 amI guess that's one of the many things that makes Japan so unique…just like the cold winter in my corner of the world…lol.
Rurousha
March 26, 2014 at 3:02 pmYup, you got the stables. There's a photo.
PS: If that comment doesn't make any sense, Part 1 is on my own blog. 🙂