Koenji Hikawa Shrine is a small neighborhood shrine behind the station’s south exit, founded in the Edo period, and it contains the only shrine in Japan dedicated to the weather. Kisho Jinja was built in 1944 at the request of the Imperial Army’s meteorological school nearby, to pray for favorable forecasts; today it attracts television weather presenters, brides hoping for a dry day, and travelers who want sunshine for Fuji.
Stop in on the way from the vintage shops to the live houses. Toss a coin, write your weather wish on a wooden geta sandal, the traditional tool for forecasting by throwing it in the air, and hang it with the others. In late August the grounds fill with dancers warming up before the Awa Odori.
Tips
- The weather shrine sells charms for good weather on a trip or a wedding day and a geta-shaped ema to write your wish on
- It is two minutes from the south exit, hidden behind the PAL arcade; look for the stone torii off Look street
- On the Awa Odori weekend the dancers come here to pray before the parade starts