Atago Shrine, perched atop Atago Hill in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, is a historic Shinto shrine known for its steep staircase, symbolizing success and career advancement. Revered for centuries, it offers not only spiritual solace but also panoramic views of the city, blending tradition with the beauty of its natural surroundings.
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Location:
The Atago Shrine is located in Minato City, one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo. The shrine has 86 stairs from the bottom to the main shrine. It is 26 meters above sea level, which is the highest in Tokyo’s 23 wards.
The name of the Shrine ‘Atago’ came from Atago Hill. It is a hill in the middle of Tokyo, located in Minato City.
A governor named, Tokugawa Ieyasu, ordered to build a shrine on the Atago hill in 1603. Later it became famous as ‘Atago Shrine.’
However, there is secret logic behind the name of Atago Shrine. The main Atago Shrine is located in Kyoto, on the top of the Atago Mountain.
Mount Atago is 924 m (3,031 ft) high in the northwestern part of Kyoto Prefecture, and on the top of the mountain, a shrine is located, called Atago Shrine. The god of the shrine is believed to be the protector of Kyoto.
However, there is a fact why governor Tokugawa Ieyasu made an order to build a shrine on the Atago hill. For the same fact, Tokyo Atago Shine is built to protect the people of Tokyo from fire.
History:
According to history, a brave young soldier, Magaki Heikurou, rode his horse up the stairs and delivered a beautiful plum gift to his Shogun, which took only one minute to climb up his horse. But it took full 45 minutes to climb down his horse.
As a result, the governor gave the soldier a good promotion for his incredible skill. From that moment, the Shrine became famous as a sign of success and good luck.
For better understanding, it is good to mention that Shogun is the title of military governor in Japan spanning from 1185 to 1868, appointed by the Emperor.
It is also worthy of mentioning here that some of the people in Tokyo believe the god of Atago listens to its devotees’ prayer when they offer prayers at Atago Shrine.
However, the Atago Shrine is not big, but it is one of the most popular tourist spots in Minato Tokyo because of its historical background.
What to see:
Atago Shrine is a religious site. But most of the international tourists visit it to experience traditional Japanese religious culture.
It is a tourist spot too. So, considering both a religious site and a tourist spot, there are some unique things to experience here, such as stiff stairs, the scene of the highest land of Tokyo’s 23 special wards, a colorful shrine, blessings of gods or spirits, and Tori gates, etc.
Overall, the visit to the Atago shrine will give you a complete experience of Shintoism, which most of the Japanese practice.
Deities:
The main religions in Japan are Shintoism and Buddhism. Shintoism has many gods or spirits.
Atago Shrine is one of the Shinto shrines in Tokyo. Several gods reside here. However, four main gods are prevalent to the devotees at Atago Shrine, and they are mentioned below:
- Homusubi no Mikoto (the god of fire)
- Mizuhanome no Mikoto (the god of water)
- Ooyamazumi no Mikoto (the god of mountains)
- Yamato Takeru no Mikoto(the god of military arts)
One more god resides here, who is called Shogun Jizou. Tokugawa Ieyasu worshipped the god. But it is not open to the public.
Besides, some other spirits are associated with these gods, such as Daikoku, Ebisu, Inari, Tarou bousha, and Benzai tensha.
To sum up, among the shrine’s gods, it is considered that the ‘god of fire’ is the main, which is called in Japanese Homusubi no Mikoto- because the shrine was built to protect the people of the area from fire.
So, pleasing the fire god is the primary purpose of the shrine. However, people usually go to Atago shrine to succeed in life.
Furthermore, the shrine carries blessings for fire and disaster prevention, love, business prosperity, and matchmaking.
Main Tori Gate & stair:
Main Tori Gate’s structure is as usual as other tori gates. It is under the tall buildings. So it looks very tinny from the main road.
However, at the back of the main tori gate, people notice a stiff stair with 86 steps. The steps are too usual as other stairs.
But people mean it differently. People call it ‘Success Steps.’ The shrine’s devotees believe that if they climb up the stair, they will succeed whatever they want, including business.
Simultaneously, there is another stair on the left (left from the main road to the shrine), and people call it ‘Stair for women.’ It is not as stiff as the primary stair because people believe that women cannot climb up as men do.
Interestingly, men and women usually all use the primary stair to climb up and use the left stair to come down from the shrine.
There is a tori gate at the end of the primary stair from where visitors can see the main Atago shrine.
Main Shrine:
The main shrine is one of the lovely shrine in Tokyo, no doubt. It is colorful, and a colorful tori gate is seen through it.
Between these two tori gates, purification houses are located. On the left of the main shrine pond, the Omikuji store.
There is a small straight path between the main shrine and the Omikuji store. If you follow the path, you will see three small shrines.
But these three tinny shrines look like steps, relatively high, higher, and highest; the shrines are relatively Oguro shrine, Fukuiyu Inari shrine, and Tarobo shrine.
On the right, a big house and the lift. The lift is for those who cannot climb the stairs.
The shrine became most convenient because of its lift, and those who use wheelchairs can visit the shrine.
Omikuji:
The omikuji or lucky charms store is significant. Some of the leaflets are written in Japanese and English.
The store has several types of good luck related goods. Devotees can buy according to their choices.
Moreover, in front of the store, you can see a few tori gates and trees. During the autumn and at the beginning of the winter, leaves change their colors and make the premises colorful.
The small pond has numerous fishes. Visitors can buy foods for the fishes from the store and feed them.
Main Festival:
Shrine holds several festivals every year. But Syusseno Ishidan Matsuri is the main festival of the shrine, held on September 22-24.
The festival Shusseno Ishidan means ‘the stone steps of social or promotional success.’
Portable shrine or mikoshi goes up and down of the stiff stairs of the shrine. It is a thrilling experience for the tourists to enjoy the festival.
On the other hand, Syusseno Ishidan Matsuri is a great blessing for the devotees for their success and protection. The festival is a blessing for the citizens of the area.
However, other festivals such as Hatsumode (first shrine visit) (1/1), Nanakusa Hitaki Matsuri (1/7), Hozuki Festival, and Sen-Nichi Mairi (6/23-24) are held in the shrine.
Access:
Nearest Station:
#Kamiyacho Station(Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line)
5 minutes walk
#Toranomon Hills Station(Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line )
5 minutes walk
#Toranomon Station(Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
8 minutes Walk
#Onarimon Station(Toei Mita Line)
8 minutes walk
Address:
Atago Shrine, 1-chōme-5 Atago, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0002
Tel (office): 03-3431-0327
Hours: 9:00~17:00
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