Akasaka Hikawa Shrine

This article is based on a visit made on Monday, 14 November 2016.

Waking up on my second November morning in Japan, I planned my day's itinerary with a focus on the western areas of Tokyo.  My sights set on Shibuya, Shinjuku, Nakano, and beyond, there was one place I wanted to stop by on the way: the Akasaka Hikawa Shrine (赤坂氷川神社, Akasaka Hikawa Jinja).  But what interested me about this of all places?  It was featured in an anime I like!  ...Sort of.

The manga and anime series Sailor Moon, or Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (美少女戦仕セーラームーン, Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn) if you are so inclined, takes place in the Tokyo district of Azabu-Juban.  The local Shinto shrine, named Hikawa Shrine, is a frequent meeting place for the main characters.  One of them, Rei Hino / Sailor Mars, works there as a miko (巫女), a shrine-maiden or priestess-in-training.  There is an actual Hikawa Shrine in the real Azabu-Juban, and that setting was used in the original manga.  But for the anime, however, I read somewhere that more inspiration was taken from the other Hikawa Shrine in Akasaka, where I ended up going to.

I started my search for the shrine from the district of Roppongi.  This sign, attached to the wall of the highway, is a good point of reference.

The walk to Hikawa Shrine goes through an urban residential neighbourhood.  The Mori Tower of the Roppongi Hills complex could be seen behind me, but not for long.

After a few minutes we reach the front entrance of the shrine, its name clearly written (in kanji) on the stone post to the right.  Its name is written as "氷川神社", where "氷川" means "ice river".  However, a Fun Fact: in Sailor Moon, the shrine is instead written as "火川神社", "火" meaning fire, because Sailor Mars uses fire-based attacks.

But back to reality.  There is a small but spacious... space in front of the shrine itself.  A tall tree stood off to the side, roped off with a shimenawa to denote its sacred status.  Didn't stop the tree from having its leaves turn colours and drop off, although that's not exactly a bad thing.

Here is the main hall.  There are ropes hanging down in front of the offering box.  These are attached to bells; you pull them and ring the bells as part of your prayers, to better attract the attention of the kami spirits enshrined there.  Japanese Buddhist temples lack this part due to the differing nature of the religion.

I left the shrine by a separate exit on the east side.  It led down some stairs to another highly wooded plaza.

There was even a small landscape garden just off to the side.  With how quiet and tranquil the place was, it reminded me of Meiji Shrine, only on a far smaller scale.

Instead of returning to Roppongi, I continued on in the other direction to the Akasaka subway station.  On the way, I chanced upon this statue placed in front of a nursing home.  The subjects of this work of art are Katsu Kaishu (勝 海舟, Katsu Kaishū, 1823-1889) and Sakamoto Ryoma (坂本 龍馬, Sakamoto Ryōma, 1836-1867).  They were both involved with forming the Imperial Japanese Navy before and after the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Right next door stands this youth centre.  I simply adored the "!" and "?" decorating the building.  Shame they couldn't spell "arena" quite right, though...

Later on, I came across this nice little park.  There's not much to it, but there was a decent rainbow of leaves going on in the season.

This fanciful facade stands across from the park.  As I discovered after later research, this place, called the Hotel Chantilly, is actually a love hotel.  A "love hotel" is a type of accommodation that caters to couples seeking a brief romantic, intimate getaway.  I can't vouch for or against the quality of this particular one, but the service at some of these places is very good, with many amenities on offer, some but not all related to sex.  If you want to see some (less-explicit) examples of love hotels, there's a scene in The Wolverine set in one, and YouTuber Gaijin Goomba has posted a video explaining them in better detail, including a few he and his wife visited in Japan.

So, did I get what I expected from Hikawa Shrine?  Not exactly; there's not really any evidence that the place is tied to Sailor Moon.  In that regard, I might as well have visited the other Hikawa Shrine in Azabu-Juban instead.  If you're interested in going there, it's 10 minutes on foot from Azabu-Juban Station (Tokyo Metro Namboku and Toei Oedo lines).  Furthermore, upon comparing the anime's Hikawa Shrine with other Shinto shrines in Tokyo, I think a closer match would be the nearby Hie Shrine. For those interested, Hie Shrine is next to Tameike-Sanno (Tokyo Metro Ginza and Namboku lines), Kokkai Gijido-mae (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi and Chiyoda lines), Akasaka-Mitsuke (Tokyo Metro Ginza and Marunouchi lines, and even Akasaka, so I could have continued there from Hikawa Shrine.

But it's what I didn't expect but got anyway that made this place totally worth a visit.  Both the shrine itself and the approach to it take you through the less-touristed parts of Tokyo, giving me a chance to soak in the atmosphere of everyday Japanese life.  And then the shrine grounds themselves provided an extra layer of natural isolation, making for a relaxing, tranquil experience.  That was sure to provide suitable contrast to my next activity, a walk around Shibuya, next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Address: 6-10-12 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 〒107-0052

Access: 8 minutes from Roppongi (Tokyo Metro Hibiya (H) and Toei Oedo (E) lines), Roppongi 1-chome (Tokyo Metro Namboku (N) line), and Akasaka (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda (C) line) stations.

From Tokyo Station, walk to the nearby Nijubashi-mae Station and take the Chiyoda subway line to Akasaka (10 minutes, ¥170).  From Shinjuku Station, take the Oedo subway line to Roppongi (9 minutes, ¥220).

Directions: From Roppongi Station, start at the intersection of  Roppongi-dori and Gaien Higashi-dori (Hibiya Line exit 4, Oedo Line exits 5 & 6).  Head west on Gaien Higashi-dori, away from the "Roppongi" sign, and take the second right.  Continue straight for 7 minutes; the shrine entrance will be on your left.

From Roppongi 1-chome Station, start at exit 1.  Turn right out of the exit, and right again at the dead-end.  Cross the street, turn left at the next dead-end, then the next right, and then the next right again.  The shrine entrance will be on your left.

From Akasaka Station, start at Exit 5A.  Turn around and head south, and bear right at the fork.  Continue straight, bear left at the next fork, and then turn right after that.  Continue straight for 3 more minutes; the shrine entrance will be on your right.

Website: (Japanese)