Next to Shingan-ji temple a few minutes' walk from the station in Tokyo's trendy Shimokitazawa district, Kitazawa Hachiman is a pleasant hillside shinto shrine. The main hall is attractively decorated, but the main point for me was the numerous miniature side shrines; even though they are small, they are adorned with carvings as intricately detailed as on full-sized buildings, trees and birds, flowers, lions and dragons. There's also a side hall with a beautiful painted screen on display (behind a window which makes it impossible to photograph).
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Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine in Tokyo
Enjoy detail and craftsmanship in Shimo-kitazawa

By Peter Sidell
Community writer

Airborne guardians

The main gate from the street

A wooden lantern by the steps up to the halls

Prayer boards

One of the little side shrines

The main hall

Detailed carvings on a side shrine

A komainu guardian lion

Another little side shrine

Decoration on the main hall

Another of the many miniature side shrines

And a komainu guardian wolf

More intricate detail

The carvings are painstakingly elaborate

A side hall
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Anonymous
9 years ago
nice pictures!
Thank you!
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