One of Tokyo’s oldest shrines, with all its 1706 buildings surviving intact: a gate, a cloister, a worship hall in the lacquered Gongen style of the Toshogu at Nikko, and a hillside of azaleas that explodes into colour every April. The fifth shogun built it to honour his heir, and the writers Soseki and Ogai, who lived nearby, used to sit on the stones beneath the trees.
Enter from the main gate, climb through the tunnel of vermilion torii on the slope, then cross to the carp pond and the worship hall. It is quiet except during the azalea festival, when the whole of Yanaka seems to come, so plan around that if you want solitude.
Tips
- The azalea festival from early April to early May covers the hillside in 3,000 bushes and charges a small fee for the garden path
- The tunnel of small red torii gates is the shrine's photo spot and is empty before 8:00
- Walk from Nezu Station via the lanes of Hebi-michi, the winding snake path along an old stream