Hie Shrine Audio Guide

Hie Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Hie Shrine

   Welcome to Hie Shrine, known in Japanese as 日枝神社, and affectionately called Sanno-san by Tokyoites. You are in Nagatacho, in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward, right in the political and historical heart of the capital. The shrine is dedicated to the Sanno faith, and it is the home of the Sanno Festival, one of the three great festivals of old Edo. What makes this place so striking is its position. The shrine has long been honored as the guardian of the Imperial Palace, a title written in Japanese as Kojo no Chin, which means the protector of the imperial castle. It sits on rising ground above modern streets, and it has watched over the city through the eras of samurai, emperors, and skyscrapers. Over the next few minutes, I will walk you through how this shrine followed Edo's rulers from castle to castle site, what its rebuilt main hall tells us about the war years, the treasures kept here, and the festival that once swept right into the shogun's castle. Let's begin.

2. 02

   Hie Shrine: A Guardian Who Moved With the City

   The story of Hie Shrine begins long before modern Tokyo. In the Kamakura period, the Edo clan enshrined a Sanno shrine in this region. Later, during the Bunmei years, the warrior Ota Dokan invited the Sanno deity from Kawagoe into Edo Castle, and that act laid the foundation of today's shrine. Then history turned. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo Castle his residence, and he revered the shrine as the guardian deity of the Tokugawa family and the birth deity of Edo. As the castle grew, the shrine was moved to Kojimachi Hayabusacho, and then in the second year of Manji, which is 1659, it settled on its present hill in Nagatacho. The centuries kept changing its title. When the castle became the Imperial Palace, the shrine was honored as its protector. In 1868, it formally took the name Hie Shrine, though it had long been called names such as Hie Sanno Shrine, Edo Sanno Gongen, and Kojimachi Sanno. For parishioners it is simply the mountain, and for everyone else it has always been Sanno-san.

3. 03

   Hie Shrine: Mountain Gods and Vermilion Halls

   The deity of this shrine has a very old pedigree. The ancient chronicle Kojiki names Oyamakui no Kami, also called Yamasue no Onushi no Kami, as a god who dwells on Mount Hie in the old province of Omi, today's Shiga prefecture, and also at Matsuo in Kadono near Kyoto. So the mountain spirit you honor here traces back to the hills near Kyoto. Now look at the main hall. This vermilion-lacquered building was rebuilt in 1958 in the gongen-zukuri style, a traditional form of Shinto shrine architecture. It follows the form of the Edo period hall, which had been a National Treasure before it was lost to war. So what you see is a postwar rebuilding that carries the memory of a vanished masterpiece. There is another wartime tale on the grounds. The small Sanno Inari shrine began as a shrine inside the residence of Lord Matsudaira Tadafusa. In the Tokyo air raids, its shrine building alone survived, and the sacred object of Hie Shrine was enshrined there for a time. Its row of torii gates is admired, and the shrine is also honored for protection against fire.

4. 04

   Hie Shrine: Festival, Swords and Shogun Treasures

   Every June, Hie Shrine comes alive with the Sanno Festival, which lasts about 10 days. It ranks as one of the three great festivals of Edo, alongside the Kanda and Fukagawa festivals. In the Edo period it was a festival watched by the shogun himself, and its portable shrines and floats were permitted to enter Edo Castle. Today, in alternating years, a procession about 300 meters long winds through central Tokyo. The festival's roots reach deep into the shrine's modern story too. In 1977, a committee was formed to celebrate 500 years since the deity was enshrined in Edo Castle. The great ceremony of 1978 revived a Sanno procession worthy of the old festival, and it also left lasting gifts, including a published history of the shrine and repairs to the shrine buildings. One gift is the treasure hall, built the following year. It houses 31 swords, including a National Treasure and Important Cultural Properties, along with many treasures connected to the Tokugawa shogun family. If you enjoy swords or shogunate history, this is a rewarding corner to know about.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Hie Shrine is also easy to reach. The traditional main approach is the steep stairway called Otoko-zaka, the men's slope. The nearest entrance is about three minutes on foot from exit 5 of Tameike-Sanno Station, and Kokkai-gijidomae Station is about five minutes away from its exit 5. From Tokyo Station, the whole journey takes about 15 minutes by train and on foot. As you wander, try to notice how many layers this one hill holds: a mountain deity from the hills near Kyoto, a warrior's invitation into Edo Castle, a shogun's protector, an imperial guardian, and a rebuilt hall standing where a lost treasure once stood. The shrine is also known for blessings related to love, business success, and career advancement, so you may see visitors pausing with their own hopes. Before you leave, look back down the slope and ask yourself what the festival procession must once have looked like, climbing toward the castle that this shrine was created to protect.