Torikoe Shrine

Located in Torigoe, Taitō Ward, Tokyo, this shrine is easily reached from Kuramae and Asakusabashi.

A shrine dedicated to Yamato Takeru no Mikoto

The main hall of Torikoe Shrine

Founded in 651 in an area then known as Shiratori Village, it was originally called Shiratori Shrine.

In the late Heian period, the samurai Minamoto no Yoriyoshi and his son Yoshiie passed through this area on their way to a battle in the Tōhoku region. Spotting a flock of white birds, they found where the river ran shallow and made their crossing. Taking this as the protection of Shiratori Myōjin, they renamed the shrine Torikoe Daimyōjin.

Up through the Edo period, the shrine held grounds of roughly 20,000 tsubo (about 6.6 hectares) and comprised three separate shrines. The land was later confiscated by the shogunate, and today only Torikoe Shrine remains.

The annual festival, home to one of Tokyo's largest sengan mikoshi

The sengan mikoshi is reputed to be the heaviest in Tokyo. The evening procession back to the shrine is known as the Torikoe Night Festival.

Held on the weekend nearest June 9 each year, the annual festival is famous for its sengan mikoshi, a portable shrine whose base measures over 120 cm across. Kan is an old unit of weight equal to about 3.75 kilograms today, so sengan, meaning a thousand kan, comes out to roughly 3.75 tons. The Torikoe Shrine sengan mikoshi actually weighs around 4 tons, and because its carrying poles are unusually short, the bearers are said to feel its weight all the more.
The mikoshi leaves the shrine at 6:50 in the morning and winds through the Kuramae area until around 9 p.m. After dark, paper lanterns are hung around it, casting a solemn, dreamlike glow. The sight of the lanterns swaying in the night has earned it the nickname obake mikoshi, the ghost mikoshi. About 250 food stalls line the streets near the shrine, offering festival staples like yakisoba and shaved ice.

Tondo-yaki in January and Nagoshi no Ōharae in June

Beyond the annual festival, the shrine holds several other rites. Tondo-yaki (also called dondo-yaki or sagichō) gathers shimenawa ropes, New Year decorations, and old amulets and burns them as a prayer for good health. Chinowa-kuguri, part of Nagoshi no Ōharae, has worshippers pass through a large ring of grass to ward off illness. In the katashiro-nagashi rite, paper effigies inscribed with the worshipper's name and age are floated out into Tokyo Bay as a prayer for good health.