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Famous
shrines and temples of Edo and Tokyo
(updated 1/22/2005)
Ted Bestor
Harvard University
Foreign
Cultures 84, Tokyo
A Japanese photographer, I. Hatada, has
compiled an enormous archive of his own photographs of shrines and temples
throughout Japan, and on this site you can select from a list of several dozen
Tokyo Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples,
organized by ward and then by shrine or temple name, or from a index of topics
and themes. The website is largely in
Japanese, but the indexes include English terms. The photographs are spectacular; copyright by I. Hatada: Hatada’s
Shrine and Temple Photo Collection.
Historical
factoid:
A
large percentage of the land area of Edo was devoted to temples and shrines, perhaps as
much as 15%.
Hie Jinja (official English language
website)
Located in the Akasaka
district, south of the Imperial Palace and very close to the National Diet
Hie Shrine was established in 1478 to protect Edo Castle, then the headquarters of
the regional lord, Ota Dōkan. The shrine is dedicated to the deity Sannō Gongen. Hie Shrine was
destroyed in the Meireki Fire of 1657, and rebuilt in 1659 by the 4th
shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna. The shrine was
destroyed again during World War II, and was rebuilt in 1967. Hie Shrine holds
one of Tokyo’s three
biggest festivals, the Sannō Matsuri, every
other year (in odd numbered years).
Since 1681, the Sannō Matsuri has
alternated with the festival of the Kanda Myōjin
Shrine. (During the Tokugawa period, the
Shogun attended the Sannō Matsuri, since the Hie Shrine offered divine protection for Edo Castle.)
Contemporary photos from
I. Hatada’s collection: Hie
Jinja
Kanda Myōjin
A shrine founded in the
10th century, dedicated in part to the God of the Sea (Suijinsama). Kanda Myōjin became the tutelary shrine for much Edo, the emblematic shrine
for Edokko.
(view of
Kanda Myōjin from a screen in the collection of
the National Museum of Japanese History)
(woodblock print -- Courtyard
at Kanda Myōjin Shrine After the Earthquake and
Fire, by Kawase Hasui, 1926)
Contemporary photos from I. Hatada’s collection: Kanda Myōjin
Kan'eiji Temple
Located in the present-day Ueno Park
Kan'eiji Temple was built in
1625, at the direction of the second Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu Hidetaka. From the
perspective of Edo Castle it is located to the northeast, in the direction of
the so-called "demon gate," in order to protect the castle in terms
of geomancy (feng shui), just
as Enryakuji in Kyoto was built atop Mt. Hiei
northeast of the Imperial Palace for the same reasons. Kan'eiji Temple was one of the
Tokugawa family temples. The original
temple was destroyed during battles between Tokugawa loyalists and supporters
of the Meiji Restoration.
(view of Kan’eiji from a screen in the collection of the National
Museum of Japanese History)
Meiji Jingu – site in English
and Japanese
the Meiji Shrine is one Tokyo’s major landmarks, both the shrine itself
and its surrounding gardens, dedicated to the memory of the Emperor Meiji.
Sensō-ji (Asakusa
Kannon)
Probably Tokyo’s most famous popular
shrine, located in the heart of a huge entertainment district that itself has
been a center of shitamachi popular culture for centuries.
Contemporary photos from
I. Hatada’s collection: Sensō-ji
Suitengu
– site is only in
Japanese
Suitengu,
located in the heart of the old merchant district of Nihonbashi, is a popular
shrine, especially for expectant mothers, as prayers and amulets from Suitengu
are supposed to ensure safe and easy childbirth
Contemporary photos from
I. Hatada’s collection: Suitengu
Tsukiji Honganji Betsuin
– site in English
more
commonly known as Tsukiji Honganji, the major temple of the Jodo
Shin-shu (True Pure Land) sect of Buddism
in Eastern Japan.
The present-day structure of the Tsukiji Honganji was completed in 1934;
it was rebuilt in a pan-Asian style, following the destruction of the previous
Honganji in the 1923 earthquake. It is
located east of the Ginza, a block north of the Tsukiji wholesale
fish market.
Yasukuni
Jinja official website (worth a look!)
– the website also includes the site for the War Memorial Museum which begins
with the motto, “the truth of modern Japanese history is now restored”
Yasukuni Jinja, located just outside the Imperial
palace, is undoubtedly the most controversial shrine in Japan. Since the Meiji period it has enshrined Japan’s war
dead. Conservatives venerate the shrine;
progressives excoriate it as a symbol of militarism. Every time Japan’s Prime
Minister visits the shrine, the visit creates domestic political debate over
the separation of religion and the state and sparks diplomatic protests from
many Asian countries that were invaded and colonized by Japan during the
Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa
periods.
Contemporary photos from
I. Hatada’s collection: Yasukuni Jinja
Yushima Tenjin (official English
language website)
Contemporary photos from
I. Hatada’s collection: Yushima
Tenjin
Zojoji
– site in English and
Japanese
Zojoji, located just to the east of Tokyo Tower, is the main temple in Eastern Japan for the Jodo-shu
(Pure Land) sect of Buddhism. Zojoji was the
family temple for the Tokugawa dynasty.