MEIJI-JINGU SHRINE
A haven of calm and coolness in the middle of Harajuku, the Shinto shrine ...Read more
TOSHO-GU
Read moreNestled in a magnificent cedar forest, the Tōshō sanctuary is the flagship tourist site of Nikkō and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in 1636 to serve as a mausoleum for the Tokugawa shogun Ieyasu, it is typical of the Momoyama style, with its unusual engravings, gilding and flashy colours. At the time of its construction, it was a significant and expensive project, which was completed in less than two years. Many buildings are revealed along the walk, including the Shogun's Mausoleum and a five-storey pagoda. Going north from Ōte-dōri, the Sennin ishidan stone staircase leads to the 8m high granite torii. Immediately to the left of the torii is the five-storey pagoda, about 30 m high, built in 1650 and rebuilt in 1818. Each floor represents one of the elements (earth, fire, water, wind and sky). The architrave on the first floor is decorated with the signs of the Chinese zodiac. On each floor, on black lacquered doors, the coat of arms of the Tokugawa people can be seen. A staircase leads to the Omote-mon door. On the lintels and pillars are various sculptures representing flowers and heads of baku, a creature that devours dreams. The gate is guarded by statues of the Deva. Immediately after, you can see the three sanjinko (sacred shops) and to the left of the portal, the shinkyūsha (the sacred stable), which houses a carved white horse. The ornaments, consisting of relief carvings, depict three monkeys that are the guardian spirits of the horse. At the approach of a basin for lustral waters: the rinzō. There is a library of sutras that contains more than 7,000 Buddhist scriptures. Another staircase leads to a terrace where a large candelabrum and two lanterns donated by the Dutch through François Caron are displayed. Behind the Drum Tower, the Honji-dō is a vast space dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai (one of the representations of the Buddha). The ceiling was decorated with a huge painting, the Moaning Dragon (Nakiryū), which seemed to whine when one clapped one's hands underneath it. After its destruction in 1961, a contemporary artist, Nampu Katayama, was asked to paint the dragon.
Yōmei-mon. After another flight of stairs, you can reach the famous portal that some people call the jewel of Japanese architecture. It was at this gate that lower-ranking samurai would stop, while higher-ranking samurai could pass through after laying down their swords. It is also called the Dusk Gate because it was supposed to hold the attention and dazzle the visitor until nightfall. The portal consists of two floors and is supported by twelve white painted elm columns. On the beams are medallions or bas-reliefs in which characters, animals, flowers, trees, fruits and the famous tigers, whose woodwork makes it possible to reconstitute the fur with incredible finesse, merrily mingle. Patterns are carved upside down to ward off bad luck. On the central beam of the second floor, there is a dragon and two other dragons are on the ceiling. Once you have passed Yōmei-mon, you enter another courtyard separated from the sanctuary by an enclosure.
Kara-mon. This new gate allows you to reach the Hai-den and Hon-den. It is also decorated with multiple ornaments, flowers and dragons, carved on the pillars and leaves. The ceiling is decorated with a fairy playing the harp and, on the edge of the façade, a bronze tsutsuga (mythical animal) can be seen. On the right is the sacred barrier that ensures the crossing of the enclosure to reach the Hai-den.
Hai-den. Antechamber of Hon-den, it is divided into three rooms. In the central room, the coffered ceilings painted with dragons and the friezes above the lintels give a glimpse of birds and plants. The sacred mirror, which embodies a deity, can be admired there. The western room was reserved for the imperial family, while the eastern room was intended for the shoguns of the three Tokugawa clans (Owari, Kii and Hitachi), referring respectively to the fiefdoms of Nagoya, Wakayama and Mito. Note the inlays of paulownia flowers and pheasants on the panels of these two rooms. The Hon-den is accessed through the stone space.
Hon-den. This building has three rooms: the Hoiden, the naijin and the nai-naijin. The Hoiden houses the golden gohei, folds of gold paper attesting to a divine presence. It is in the nai-naijin that the three families Ieyasu, Hideyoshi and Yoritomo are venerated, surrounded by artistic masterpieces. Between Yōmei-mon and Kara-mon, you must go to the ticket office to pay the entrance fee and enter a lacquered corridor. The entrance door is carved with a sleeping grey cat (nemuri neko) by Hidari Jingorô (1594-1634). Contrary to the French adage "when the cat sleeps, the mice dance", the cat's sleep here announces that rodents have been driven out of the sacred enclosure. This very popular cat has become a symbol of Nikkō. On the other side of the courtyard, the sakashita-mon, also decorated doorway, beyond which a staircase of 207 steps leads, after crossing the inuki-mon, to Hotō, a bronze pagoda where the ashes of Ieyasu rest. When you leave Tōshō-gū by Ote-dōri, you walk along an avenue that leads to Futara-san.
TSURUGAOKA HACHIMAN-GU
Read moreThe most important Shinto shrine of Kamakura, it is dedicated to the god Hachiman, patron saint of the Minamoto family and warriors in general. It was built in 1063 not far from the bay of Kamakura by Yorioshi Minamoto, as a replica of the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū shrine in Kyoto, the tutelary sanctuary of his clan and dedicated to the emperor Ōjin. For more than 700 years, the shrine was also a Buddhist temple, until the separation of the two religions was decided in 1868.
The sanctuary is located in the middle of a beautiful garden on one of the city's hills. After crossing the red arch, you pass over the Akabashi, a half-moon bridge that divides the Gempei pond, which is composed of two rooms where impressive lotuses grow. We then arrive in front of the Maidono dance pavilion. It is here that Shizuka, Yoshitsune Minamoto's mistress, danced at Yoritomo's request to betray her brother's hiding place. She didn't reveal anything and narrowly escaped death. Her bravery is commemorated with plays nō and dances at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū festival, September 14-16. Legend has it that one of the two ponds contains three islands and the other four, "san" and "shi" symbolizing the numbers of birth and death respectively. The white and red lotuses also symbolize the beginning and end of life. Past the Maidono, a high staircase leads to the main building of the temple. There, the treasures of the sanctuary such as swords and masks are displayed.
ASAKUSA JINJA
Read moreWithin the temple Sensō-ji enclosure stands one of the city's best-known shrines, Asakusa jinja, also known as Sanja-sama. Located east of the main building, it is marked by the stone torii. It was built in 1649 in honour of the 3 founders of Sensō-ji, and unlike the latter, it resisted the air raids of World War II. The sanctuary is at the heart of the Sanja-matsuri festivities in mid-May, when the o-mikoshi are carried in procession through the neighbourhood. With a bit of luck, you will also come across married couples there.
INDIANS JONES ADVENTURES: TEMPLE OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Read moreThe large Inca temple in ruins reflects the entrance of this attraction. You must face Crystal Skull which protects the path to the Fountain of Youth. Fortunately for you, Indiana Newspaper has already mapped the way for your jeep… But this adventure gives you many surprises!
ZŌZŌ-JI AND SHIBA PARK
Read moreLocated to the east of Tokyo Tower, Shiba Park was home, until the 17th century, to over a hundred shrines built around the Zōzō-Ji temple. The temple was the Kantō headquarters of the Jōdō-shū (Pure Land Sect), whose masters were all Chinese. It was founded by Shūei (809-884), a disciple of Kūkai. Initially dependent on the Shingon-shū, it then passed to the Jōdō-shū by the monk Shōsō, at the end of the 14th century. Ieyasu Tokugawa made it a family temple in 1590, and the temple accumulated wealth donated by daimyō and merchants, as it was on the edge of the Tōkaido road. At the height of its glory, the temple comprised over 120 buildings. The mausoleums of 6 of the 15 Tokugawa shoguns are located here.
After the Meiji Restoration and the decline of Buddhism, the estate was transformed into a park. Destroyed during the Second World War, it was rebuilt in 1974, but posed many problems for the development of the Shiba district. The two-storey main gate dates back to 1622. It is the oldest wooden building in the city and the only temple structure to have survived the bombardments of the Second World War. Many stone statuettes (jizō) of children can be seen here, serving as prayer supports for parents who have lost a child before or shortly after birth.
Throughout the year, numerous events and ceremonies bring this religious site to life. Sutra writing sessions are held every 14th of the month, except July and August.
YASUKUNI JINJA
Read moreThis Shinto shrine celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. Linked to the national construction of the 19th century, it is dedicated to the spirits of the Japanese who died for their homeland, from the Boshin War to the present day. It is currently a controversial place as it houses the remains of war criminals (notably that of General Tōjō who orchestrated many massacres, including the infamous Nanking massacre in 1937). Each of the Japanese Prime Minister's visits to this holy place immediately triggers a wave of protest from Beijing and Seoul.
HASE-DERA
Read moreNot far from the great Buddha of Kamakura, this luminous temple of the Jodo sect overlooks the ocean. Probably founded around the 11th century, it is known for the eleven-headed wooden statue of Kannon, housed in the main pavilion. The entrance is at the foot of Mount Kamakura. On the way up, you can see the rows of jizō commemorating the stillborn children. Near the main pavilion, a cave is dedicated to the Benzaiten goddess of femininity and beauty. The temple is the 4th stop of the pilgrimage of the 33 temples.
SENGAKU-JI
Read moreThis temple founded by Ieyasu Tokugawa in 1612 is best known for the tomb of the 47 rōnins, the faithful samurai who continue to populate the Japanese imagination. A museum is dedicated to them in the temple grounds. In March 1701, the lord (daimyō) Asano of Akō wounded the lord Kira Hozukenosuke in the enclosure of Edo Castle. Taking out a blade in the palace of shōgun was a serious and unforgivable offence, and the culprit was condemned to ritual suicide, seppuku. He lost his lands and possessions. The 300 samurai in his pay became rōnin or floating men, which means mercenaries. One of them, Kuranosuke Oishi, decided to avenge his master and gathered 46 other samurai. He asked them to be patient and prepare a plan of revenge for 2 years. They met on December 14, 1702, attacked the villa of daimyō Kira and beheaded him. After placing the victim's head on their master's grave, they were condemned to seppuku on their master's grave on February 4, 1703, in the Sengaku-Ji garden. Only one escaped, Kichiemon Terasaka, who was sent to the lands of daimyō to Akō, to inform the faithful of the success of their revenge. When he returned, the shōgun pardoned him. Finally, another samurai from Akō, regretting not having been part of the revenge, ritually committed suicide at Asano's grave. December 14 is still an important date and every year, pilgrims come to visit the tombs of the 47 rōnins present in the temple.
ZENPUKU-JI
Read moreTemple founded in 824 by Kūkaï. Burned several times and bombed during the World War II, it was rebuilt in the fifties. In the park of the temple, one can see the oldest tree in Tōkyō, which would have grown from the cane of the monk Shinran in the 13th century. The temple has the sacred formula of Daishi Kōbō and Buddhist paintings. The American legation was housed here for more than ten years in the late 19th century. A medallion bearing the effigy of Towsend Harris is part of the temple treasure.
NOGI JINJA
Read moreThis shrine is dedicated to General Nogi, hero of the Russo-Japanese war. He was raised in 1923 on the site of the house where the general and his wife made seppuku (harakiri) in 1912, out of attachment to the recently deceased Meiji Emperor and their ethic of fidelity. The house is sometimes open to the public, but the sanctuary is open to visitors all year round. It is a pretty green oasis, where you can also see an alley of red torii. A flea market is held there on the 4th Sunday of each month, where you can find both clothes and dishes.
ATAGO JINJA
Read moreBuilt in 1603 to protect the city from fires and disasters, this sanctuary perched on a hill was rebuilt in 1958. A double stone staircase (Otoko zaka, the men's slope, and Onna zaka, the women's slope) provides access to the sanctuary. In the past, poets used to climb it to admire the snow at the time of the full moon. Legend has it that a young samurai climbed to the top on horseback to pick plum blossoms and offer them to the shogun. The steep stairs then became a symbol of success in life.
KANDA MYŌJIN
Read moreThis Shinto shrine was founded in 730, in Otemachi, in the Gongen style of the Momoyama period. In 1616, it was moved to the present site by Ieyasu Tokugawa and declared guardian of Edo City. The first sanctuary having been burned down, this one is a fairly faithful concrete replica that resists time and earthquakes. In recent years, it has adopted the codes of pop culture from the neighbouring Akihabara district, particularly during festivals in mid-May and August. It is consecrated to 3 of the 7 gods of fortune, and is much appreciated by the Tokyo inhabitants.