Too Many Anime Connections! Kanda Myoujin (Chiyoda Ward): ‘Love Live!’, ‘Kusuriya no Hitorigoto’, ‘STEINS;GATE’, and More
When talking about shrines that have become anime holy sites, this one is essential. Located near Akihabara and serving as a sacred site for many works like ‘Love Live!’ and ‘STEINS;GATE’, it’s Kanda Myoujin. In ‘Love Live!’, it’s depicted as the family home of the character Toudou Nozomi, and ‘STEINS;GATE’ even received official holy site certification, with an award ceremony for the certification plate held back in 2019.
Beyond being a pilgrimage spot, its location leads to many collaborations with anime. Recently, ‘Kusuriya no Hitorigoto’ (also known as ‘The Apothecary Diaries’) collaborated with the famous “Kanda Festival,” one of Japan’s three great festivals. This collaboration featured original illustration visuals, special goshuin stamp books, acrylic stands, and other goods. They even held an exhibition of the original illustrations and displayed related materials.
Appears in a Makoto Shinkai Film! Yoyogi Hachimangu (Shibuya Ward): ‘Byousoku 5 Centimeter’
Yoyogi Hachimangu, a historic shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, is the holy site for ‘Byousoku 5 Centimeter’ (translated as ‘5 Centimeters Per Second’), which was also adapted into a live-action film this year. Despite being in the heart of Shibuya, the shrine is surrounded by woods and has a quiet, calming atmosphere, also famous as a power spot. It enshrines the god Hachiman, known for bringing benefits like victory, career success, and warding off misfortune.
In ‘Byousoku 5 Centimeter’, it appears in the childhood flashback scenes of Takaki and Akari. The two run in front of the torii gate, and Akari is seen talking to a cat. It was also used as a filming location for the live-action movie, so while the buzz is still fresh, it’s a great recommendation for your first shrine visit of the year.
That said, when spring comes and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, you can really feel like you’re inside the world of ‘Byousoku 5 Centimeter’, so visiting in early spring might also be a great idea.
Voice Actors Visit Too! Hanazono Jinja (Shinjuku Ward): ‘Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-‘
Hanazono Jinja, located right next to Shinjuku’s Kabukicho, draws worship for its benefits in entertainment, business prosperity, and matchmaking due to its location. It’s famous for prayers related to success in the arts and entertainment industry and for passing auditions; many ema votive tablets are hung by aspiring voice actors and idols! Many currently active entertainers and creators visit, and the “Geinou Asama Jinja” within the grounds has rows of “tamagaki” fences with the names of numerous famous celebrities.
This Hanazono Jinja is the holy site for the anime ‘Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-‘. In the series, the three members of the Shinjuku Division
People Involved Keep Visiting! Suga Jinja (Shinjuku Ward): ‘Kimi no Na wa.’
To reach Suga Jinja, nestled in a Yotsuya residential area, you must climb a long stone staircase. Normally, one might hesitate to tackle such stairs, but for this shrine, the staircase is the holy site. This location, the “Otokozaka” stairs, is where Taki and Mitsuha reunite in the final scene of the film ‘Kimi no Na wa.’ (translated as ‘Your Name.’). It was used on key visual art, so it should be memorable for many. Even now, about a decade after the film’s release, it remains a popular spot visited by fans from Japan and abroad. Perhaps because of this, you can even find ema votive tablets where anime studios have prayed for their works to become hits.
Suga Jinja is known for a wide range of benefits: business prosperity, of course, but also averting misfortune and bad directions, matchmaking (including reconciliation), family safety, safe childbirth (conceiving and raising children), recovery from illness, and traffic safety. You can get ema with the “Otokozaka” drawing and special goshuin stamps, so why not pick one up as a souvenir of your visit?
A Full-Blown Collaboration! Nakano-Numabukuro Hikawa Jinja (Nakano Ward): ‘Tokyo Revengers’
Nakano-Numabukuro Hikawa Jinja is a shrine dedicated to the deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto, part of the Hikawa faith, and has long been worshipped as a protector against misfortune, disaster, and for family safety. This is the place that served as the model for the shrine where the Tokyo Manji Gang was formed in ‘Tokyo Revengers’. Remember, the whole gang even bought omamori here.
This shrine has also conducted an official collaboration with ‘Tokyo Revengers’. They have distributed collaboration omamori charms, goshuin stamp books, and stamps.
By the way, “Hikawa Jinja” often refers to a lineage of shrines distributed around the Kanto region (especially the old Musashi Province), and you don’t see them very often in the Kansai area. When you travel to the Kanto region, why not stop by one?
A Shrine or the Forest Where Kitarou Lives? Fuda Tenjinja (Chofu City): ‘Gegege no Kitarou’
When it comes to ‘Gegege no Kitarou’, some might name Tottori’s “Mizuki Shigeru Road” as the holy site, but the author, Mizuki Shigeru-sensei, was from Chofu City. ‘Gegege no Kitarou’ was born in this area.
In Chofu, you’ll find Fuda Tenjinja. It’s a historic shrine deeply connected to academics, wisdom, and culture/arts, known as one of the oldest Tenjin faith shrines in the old Musashi Province. The forest behind the main hall is called “the forest where Gegege no Kitarou lives,” and it’s said that Mizuki-sensei actually used it as a reference when drawing ‘Gegege no Kitarou’. It also appeared in the opening of the anime’s 6th season.
Besides this, Chofu has many spots connected to Mizuki-sensei. Characters from his works are all over the town, so when you visit for your first shrine visit, we recommend enjoying the entire city of Chofu itself!
This time we picked shrines that left an impression after our editorial team actually visited, but there are many other shrines that have become anime holy sites. Next time, we hope to introduce locations outside the Kanto and Kansai regions by visiting even more shrines.
We hope you have a great New Year by doing your first shrine visit at a holy site! ♪
By Yoneda Kaori
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