Tokyo · Sights

Best Shrine in Tokyo

64 places, each checked by our team.

• Akagi Shrine 赤城神社Kagurazaka — Kagurazaka's guardian shrine, reborn in 2010 as a sleek glass-and-timber design by architect Kengo Kuma, a stylish, modern take on a 700-year-old…
• Akasaka Hikawa Shrine 赤坂氷川神社Akasaka — A hushed, wooded shrine hidden behind Akasaka's embassies and office towers, with an original 1730 main hall commissioned by shogun Tokugawa…
• Ana Hachimangu 穴八幡宮Waseda — A vermilion hilltop shrine by Waseda University that draws enormous queues every winter solstice for its "Ichiyo Raifuku" talisman, believed to…
• Anamori Inari Shrine 穴守稲荷神社Haneda — The fox shrine of old Haneda, evicted from the airport grounds in 1945 and rebuilt nearby, with a tunnel of vermilion torii, a sacred hillock of…
• Asagaya Shinmeigū 阿佐ヶ谷神明宮Asagaya — Ise-style shrine to the sun goddess Amaterasu next to Asagaya Station, known for its seasonal goshuin and woven 'kamimusubi' charm bracelets.
• Asakusa Shrine 浅草神社Asakusa — The Shinto shrine standing right beside Senso-ji, dedicated to the three men who pulled the Kannon statue from the Sumida River in 628, a calm, 1649…
• Atago Shrine 愛宕神社Toranomon / Atago — Atop the highest natural hill in central Tokyo, reached by the brutally steep 86-step "Stairs of Success", legend says a samurai rode his horse up…
• Fuda Tenjin-sha 布多天神社Chofu — One of the oldest shrines in the Tama area, listed in the 10th-century Engishiki, and the guardian shrine of Chofu's old post towns.
• Fukutoku Shrine 福徳神社（芽吹稲荷）Nihonbashi — Ancient Inari shrine rebuilt among the Coredo Muromachi towers, visited by Tokugawa Ieyasu and popular for lottery-luck prayers.
• Gojo-ten Shrine 五條天神社Ueno — Ueno Park shrine to the gods of medicine and to Sugawara no Michizane, reached past the red torii tunnel of neighbouring Hanazono Inari.
• Hakusan Shrine (Bunkyo) 白山神社Hakusan / Bunkyo — A neighbourhood shrine in Bunkyo that turns blue and purple each June, when some 3,000 hydrangeas bloom for the Bunkyo Ajisai Matsuri, one of…
• Hanazono Shrine 花園神社Shinjuku — Shinjuku's guardian shrine, a vermilion oasis a block from Golden Gai, famous for November's Tori no Ichi fair with giant lucky rakes, and for its…
• Haneda Shrine 羽田神社Haneda — The guardian shrine of Haneda's old fishing village, revered by airline staff, selling aviation-safety amulets and home to a 5 m Mt Fuji replica…
• Hatonomori Hachiman Shrine 鳩森八幡神社Sendagaya — A leafy neighbourhood shrine in Sendagaya with Tokyo's oldest surviving Fuji-zuka, a mini Mt. Fuji built in 1789 that you can climb, and a shogi…
• Hie Shrine 日枝神社Akasaka / Nagatacho — A stately hilltop shrine in the government district, famous for its tunnel of vermilion torii climbing the back stairs and its monkey guardians,…
• Ichigaya Kamegaoka Hachimangu 市谷亀岡八幡宮Ichigaya — A hilltop Hachiman shrine above Ichigaya founded by Edo Castle's builder Ota Dokan, now a favourite with pet owners for its dog and cat charms and…
• Igusa Hachimangu 井草八幡宮Zenpukuji / Suginami — One of western Tokyo's largest shrines, set in about 10,000 tsubo of woodland, with a horseback archery ritual held every five years.
• Imado Shrine 今戸神社Asakusa / Imado — Small matchmaking shrine north of Senso-ji, popular for its beckoning-cat (maneki-neko) figures and one of the Asakusa Seven Lucky Gods stops.
• Jiyūgaoka Kumano-jinja Shrine 自由が丘熊野神社Jiyugaoka — Kumano shrine in the middle of fashionable Jiyugaoka, dating from the Kamakura-era spread of Kumano worship.
• Kameari Katori Shrine 亀有香取神社Kameari — Kamearis 13th-century shrine of the god of martial victory, now beloved by runners and athletes for leg-and-foot blessings, with turtle guardian…
• Kameido Tenjin 亀戸天神社Kameido — East Tokyo's great Tenjin shrine, with drum bridges arching over a pond, Tokyo Skytree rising behind, and spectacular wisteria trellises in late…
• Kanda Myojin 神田明神Akihabara / Ochanomizu — A 1,300-year-old shrine to business luck and prosperity a few minutes from Akihabara, beloved by Edo merchants, salarymen blessing their laptops,…
• Kasai Shrine (Kanamachi) 葛西神社Higashi-Kanamachi — The 12th-century guardian shrine of the old Kasai district in Higashi-Kanamachi, birthplace of Kasai-bayashi, the festival music that became the…
• Kisho Jinja (Weather Shrine) 気象神社Koenji — Japan's only shrine dedicated to the weather. It is a tiny sub-shrine inside Koenji Hikawa Shrine, right next to Koenji Station, where people leave…
• Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine 北澤八幡神社Shimokitazawa / Daizawa — Hilltop shrine founded around 500 years ago by the Kira lords of Setagaya Castle, a calm escape a short walk from Shimokitazawa.
• Koami Shrine 小網神社Nihonbashi — A tiny Nihonbashi shrine with a big reputation for "strong luck", it survived the 1945 firebombing untouched, where queues form to wash coins at its…
• Konno Hachimangu 金王八幡宮Shibuya — Shibuya's oldest shrine, founded in 1092 and hidden three minutes from the station, with a vermilion 1612 gate and a rare cherry tree named after a…
• Kumano Shrine (Shinjuku Juniso) 十二社熊野神社Nishi-Shinjuku — The tranquil guardian shrine of Nishi-Shinjuku, set at the edge of Shinjuku Central Park beneath the skyscrapers, known for its striking…
• Mabashi Inari Shrine 馬橋稲荷神社Asagaya — Asagaya Inari shrine famous for its dragon torii, one of only three torii in Tokyo with carved dragons coiling around the pillars.
• Meiji Jingu 明治神宮Harajuku — A hushed 70-hectare forest shrine steps from Harajuku, dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, enormous cypress torii, a wall of sake barrels…
• Mimeguri Shrine 三囲神社Mukojima — The Mitsui family's guardian shrine in Mukojima, home to a three-legged torii and the bronze lions that once guarded the Mitsukoshi Ikebukuro…
• Musashi Mitake Shrine 武蔵御嶽神社Ome / Mt. Mitake — A mountaintop shrine at 929 m on Mt. Mitake in the Okutama hills, reached by cable car and a walk through a pilgrim village, beloved for its…
• Nezu Shrine 根津神社Nezu / Yanesen — One of Tokyo's oldest shrines, with lacquered Edo-period buildings that survived war and earthquake, a tunnel of small red torii and a hillside of…
• Nogi Shrine 乃木神社Akasaka / Nogizaka — A serene Akasaka shrine honouring General Nogi Maresuke and his wife Shizuko, beside the preserved Western-style house where they took their lives…
• Oji Inari Shrine 王子稲荷神社Oji — The historic head of all Inari shrines in eastern Japan, where foxes once gathered on New Year's Eve, today the setting for a lantern-lit fox-mask…
• Oji Shrine 王子神社Oji — One of the Tokyo Ten Shrines, patronised by the Tokugawa shoguns, with a black-and-gold hall and a rare shrine to the god of hair.
• Okunitama Shrine 大國魂神社Fuchu — Western Tokyo's grand ancient shrine in Fuchu, founded in the first century and once the capital shrine of Musashi Province, reached via a towering…
• Omiya Hachimangu 大宮八幡宮Omiya / Eifuku — Nicknamed "the navel of Tokyo" for its location near the geographic centre of the 23 wards, this big, forested shrine in southern Suginami is where…
• Onoterusaki Shrine 小野照崎神社Iriya / Shitaya — A small Shitaya shrine to the poet-scholar Ono no Takamura with a real Edo-era Fuji-zuka, a miniature Mount Fuji built from lava rock that you can…
• Otori Shrine (Asakusa) 鷲神社Asakusa / Senzoku — The original home of Tokyo's Tori no Ichi, where on the November days of the rooster stalls sell kumade lucky rakes through the night, and where you…
• Sakura Jingū Shrine 桜神宮Sakura-shinmachi — Compact Shinto shrine near Sakura-shinmachi Station, founded in 1882 and known for fire-walking and hot-water purification rites.
• Setagaya Hachimangu 世田谷八幡宮Miyasaka / Setagaya — A wooded hilltop shrine beside the Setagaya Line with its own outdoor sumo ring. Each September it hosts amateur offering sumo, a tradition said to…
• Shiba Daijingu 芝大神宮Shiba / Daimon — Known as the "Ise of the Kanto", a compact shrine at the foot of Zojoji's main avenue whose 11-day "Daradara Matsuri" in September sells ginger and…
• Shibuya Hikawa Shrine 渋谷氷川神社Higashi, Shibuya — A deep forest shrine on a hill in Higashi, with a long tree-tunnel approach and Edo Tokyo's historic sumo ring, said to be one of the oldest shrines…
• Shinagawa Shrine 品川神社Kitashinagawa — A hilltop shrine above old Shinagawa-juku with a dragon-carved stone torii, a climbable Edo-era Fuji-zuka mini mountain, and a money-washing spring…
• Shitaya Shrine 下谷神社Ueno / Inaricho — Said to be Tokyo's oldest Inari shrine, founded in the Nara period, near Ueno and the site of Edo's first public storytelling (yose) performance.
• Suga Shrine (Yotsuya) 須賀神社Yotsuya — A modest Yotsuya neighbourhood shrine made world-famous by the red-railed staircase in the final scene of Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name." (Kimi no Na…
• Suitengu 水天宮Nihonbashi / Ningyocho — Tokyo's foremost shrine for safe childbirth and fertility, rebuilt in 2016 as a striking modern hilltop sanctuary, where expectant parents line up…
• Sumiyoshi Shrine (Tsukudajima) 住吉神社Tsukishima / Tsukuda — The guardian shrine of Tsukudajima, founded by fishermen brought from Osaka in the 1640s, a little old-Edo enclave of tsukudani shops and canals in…
• Susanō Shrine 素盞雄神社Minami-Senju — Senju's guardian shrine, founded in 795, with a miniature Mt. Fuji mound and the stone marking where Basho began 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'.
• Tamagawa Sengen-jinja Shrine 多摩川浅間神社Den-en-chofu / Tamagawa — Hilltop shrine above the Tama River with a viewing deck that looks toward Mt. Fuji, founded according to legend by Hojo Masako.
• Tateishi Kumano Shrine 立石熊野神社Tateishi — A small shrine near the Nakagawa river said to have been founded by the legendary Heian-era yin-yang master Abe no Seimei, with grounds laid out in…
• Teppozu Inari Shrine 鐵砲洲稲荷神社Minato (Chuo) / Hatchobori — An old harbour-district shrine near Hatchobori with its own fujizuka, a miniature Mount Fuji of lava rock you can climb during the July Fuji-opening…
• Togo Shrine 東郷神社Harajuku — A calm green pocket just off Takeshita-dori, dedicated to Admiral Togo Heihachiro, with a koi pond, a well-loved weekend antique market and a…
• Togoshi Hachiman Shrine 戸越八幡神社Togoshi — Neighbourhood shrine near Togoshi Ginza founded in 1526, whose name is said to be the origin of the place name Togoshi.
• Tokyo Daijingu 東京大神宮Iidabashi — Tokyo's 'Ise in the city' and its top shrine for love and matchmaking, the place where modern Shinto weddings were born, crowded with hopeful…
• Tomioka Hachimangu 富岡八幡宮Monzen-nakacho / Fukagawa — Edo's largest Hachiman shrine and the birthplace of professional sumo, home to a gleaming gold mikoshi and the water-drenched Fukagawa Hachiman…
• Toyoiwa Inari Shrine 豊岩稲荷神社Ginza — A tiny fox shrine hidden in a one-person-wide alley behind Ginza's high-end boutiques, reached by squeezing between restaurant back walls.
• Ueno Toshogu 上野東照宮Ueno — A dazzling gold-leaf shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu tucked inside Ueno Park, a 1651 National Treasure hall, an avenue of some 200 stone and bronze…
• Ushijima Shrine 牛嶋神社Mukojima — The guardian shrine of Mukojima in a corner of Sumida Park, with a rare three-way torii and a stone "nade-ushi" cow that locals rub to heal whatever…
• Yaho Tenmangu 谷保天満宮Yaho / Kunitachi — The oldest shrine to Sugawara no Michizane in eastern Japan, set in a hollow of springs and plum trees in Kunitachi. It is known for free-roaming…
• Yasukuni Shrine 靖国神社Kudanshita — A major Shinto shrine founded in 1869 to commemorate those who died in service of Japan, including convicted war criminals from WWII, a politically…
• Yoyogi Hachimangu 代々木八幡宮Yoyogi / Okushibu — A wooded hilltop shrine near Yoyogi Park built on the site of a Jomon-period settlement, with a reconstructed 4,500-year-old pit dwelling on the…
• Yushima Tenmangu 湯島天満宮Yushima / Ueno — Tokyo's best-known shrine for exam success, dedicated to the scholar-god Sugawara no Michizane, walls of wooden ema from hopeful students, a plum…