Local Secret · Motoyawata (Ichikawa)

Yawata no Yabushirazu 八幡の藪知らず

A tiny fenced bamboo grove opposite Ichikawa City Hall that legend says you must never enter: whoever goes in will never come out. The Edo-period phrase "Yawata no yabushirazu" still means a maze people get lost in.

HoursViewable from outside at any time

ClosedOpen daily

PriceFree

Getting thereMotoyawata Station (JR Sobu Line / Toei Shinjuku Line), 7 min

Time needed10 min

Best timeAny time

Address2-8 Yawata, Ichikawa, Chiba

About

In the middle of busy Motoyawata, between a main road and apartment blocks, sits a patch of dense bamboo and trees barely 18 metres across, surrounded by a low fence and a small shrine gate. This is Yawata no Yabushirazu, the "grove you must not know", one of Japans most famous forbidden places. Edo-period guidebooks and ukiyo-e prints spread stories that anyone who entered would be cursed or lost; theories about why range from an ancient burial site to the remains of a sacred enclosure of the old Katsushika Hachimangu or a hiding place of Taira no Masakados followers. The phrase became an idiom for a maze or a place you cannot find your way out of. It takes two minutes to see, but the contrast between modern traffic and this untouchable grove is what makes it memorable.

Highlights

Untouched grove that has been off-limits for centuries
Small shrine and stone monument at the front
Appears in Edo guidebooks and ukiyo-e prints
Gave its name to a Japanese idiom for a maze

Tips

Do not climb the fence: locals take the taboo seriously.
Combine with Katsushika Hachimangu across the road.
Look for the explanatory board on the front side facing City Hall.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

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Yawata no Yabushirazu 八幡の藪知らず

About

Highlights

Tips

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