Hikawa Shrine Audio Guide

Hikawa Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Hikawa Shrine

   Welcome to Hikawa Shrine, known in Japanese as 氷川神社, a Shinto shrine in Kawagoe, in Saitama Prefecture. You will often hear it called Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. That name keeps it apart from another Hikawa Shrine in Omiya Ward in Saitama City, a shrine to which, as you will hear, this one is linked by tradition. Kawagoe is the old castle town that visitors love for its merchant streets, and this shrine sits at the heart of its spiritual life. Over the next few stops, we will follow its story from legendary beginnings in the sixth century, through the castle lords who protected it, to the carved main hall, the festival that fills the town's streets with floats, and the shrine's reputation today as a place to pray for good relationships. Take a slow breath as you walk toward the gate. This is a place where the town's history, its festivals and its everyday hopes all meet.

2. 02

   Hikawa Shrine and the Castle Lords

   Hikawa Shrine: The shrine building of Yasaka Shrine here began as the inner shrine of the Toshogu Shrine that the third shogun, Iemitsu, built in the Ninomaru of Edo Castle in 1637.

   Tradition places the beginnings of Hikawa Shrine very early, in the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the sixth century. The story goes that it started when worship was shared out from the Hikawa Shrine in Omiya, part of the old Musashi Ichinomiya. That is the legendary layer, and it is worth holding in your mind as a deep background to everything you see here. The firmly documented chapter begins in 1457. That is the year Kawagoe Castle was built by Ota DosHin and his son Ota Dokan, a father and son whose names are woven into the town's founding. From then on, the shrine was worshipped by the successive lords of Kawagoe Domain as the guardian deity of the castle town. That patronage explains a lot. A shrine protected by generations of rulers could afford splendid halls, and the lords' devotion is the reason the buildings here are so richly made. When you stand in the precinct, you are standing in a place that was, for centuries, tied to the fortunes of the whole town.

3. 03

   Carvings and Borrowed Buildings at Hikawa Shrine

   Hikawa Shrine: He also donated a mikoshi, a portable shrine that carries the divine spirit, to Hikawa Shrine.

   Look closely at the main hall. Its walls are covered in elaborate carvings, a gift from Matsudaira Naritsune, lord of Kawagoe Domain, in 1849. The hall is designated an important cultural asset of Saitama, so it is protected as part of the prefecture's heritage. Give the carvings time, because they reward patient eyes. The precinct also holds a building with a remarkable past. The shrine building of Yasaka Shrine here began as the inner shrine of the Toshogu Shrine that the third shogun, Iemitsu, built in the Ninomaru of Edo Castle in 1637. After it fell empty in 1656, it was received by Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who placed it as the outer shrine of Miyoshino Shrine in the Kuruwamachi district. Then came the end of the castle itself. After Kawagoe Castle was abolished, the building was moved to the present shrine grounds in 1872. So a structure that once stood inside the shogun's own castle in Edo found its final home here, a quiet link between this town and the center of power.

4. 04

   The Festival Born at Hikawa Shrine

   Hikawa Shrine: The Shingashi River also flows behind the shrine, so a short wander around the edges is worth your time.

   Hikawa Shrine is the heart of one of Japan's great festivals. The shrine's biggest annual celebration is the Reitaisai, held on the fourteenth of October. Right after it comes the float event of the famous Kawagoe Festival, which is considered to have grown out of the Reitaisai. The festival's history reaches back to the middle of the seventeenth century. Matsudaira Nobutsuna, then lord of Kawagoe, ordered the festival to be started to help boost the local economy. He also donated a mikoshi, a portable shrine that carries the divine spirit, to Hikawa Shrine. In the festival, the mikoshi is paraded through town, followed by townsfolk pulling the great festival floats called dashi. The dashi took their present appearance in the second half of the nineteenth century. Each has wheels and is moved by people hauling on ropes together. Their height can be adjusted so they pass beneath overhead obstructions without trouble. The Kawagoe Hikawa Festival is one of 33 float festivals across Japan listed together on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and it is also a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Today, Hikawa Shrine is also known as a place where locals pray for good marriage ties. Alongside the usual customs, such as writing a wish on the back of an ema plaque, you can look into the shrine's other love-blessing traditions on the grounds. In July and August, it is worth asking at the shrine office whether its round paper lanterns shaped like Edo wind chimes are available, since carrying one through the old streets in the evening is a lovely way to feel the town's atmosphere. Getting here is straightforward. From Kawagoe Station or Hongawagoe Station, buses, including the Tobu Bus and the Koedo loop bus, run to stops named for Hikawa Shrine. The Shingashi River also flows behind the shrine, so a short wander around the edges is worth your time. Before you go, look once more at the carved hall and the old Yasaka Shrine building, and try to picture the floats gathering here each October. Which detail do you think the town's lords would be proudest of?