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Nearest station

Higashi-shinjuku

Fukutoshin, Ōedo Lines

Tōkyō-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kabukichō 2-17-5

東京都新宿区歌舞伎町2-17-5

稲荷鬼王神社

   Inari Kiō Jinja

Home page: none

April 16, 2018

Enshrined Kami:  

Main

Ukanomitama-mikoto   倉稲魂命

Kiōkongen                        鬼王権現

 

From Merged Shrines

None

In-ground Shrines:

Mishima (Ebisu) JInja  三島神社(恵比壽神社)

Sangen Jinja                 浅間神社

 

​Annual Festival:  September 18 

History

Founded in 1653 with the cloning of the deity of an Inari jinja, Fukusa Inari (福瑳稲荷), which was in the grounds of the Suwa Jinja in what was then Totsuka Village and is now Takadanobaba. In 1752 a local farmer by the name of Tanaka Seiuemon (田中清右衛門), who out of thankfulness for recovery from an illness sustained while travelling, had a deity of the Kishū Kumano deity, Kiōkongen, enshrined through the kanjō process. In 1831 the Inari and Kiōkongen deities were jointly enshrined and the shrine was named Inari Kiō Jinja. As Kiōkongen no longer exists in  Kumano this is

the only shrine where he is still worshipped and it is the only shrine of this name in Japan.

 

Kiōkongen is credited with the "reigen" (miraculous efficacy) of curing all kinds of illnesses starting with skin rashes and tumours.  Until the beginning of the Meiji Period there were apparently a number of tofu (beancurd) dealers clustered around the entrances to the shrine selling tofu to people looking for cures. The sufferer would buy the tofu, dedicate it to the shrine, and it was thought that if he or she continued to stroke the affected parts of their bodies with the dedicated tofu for as long as it took a cure would certainly be effected. This practice was known as "nade mamori."  In 1894 the deity of a Sengen JInja which had along existed in the areas was jointly enshrined with Inari Kiō but in 1930 the deities were separated and Sengen Jinja was set up as an in-ground shrine of Inari Kiō Jinja.

Description

About 150m from the A1 exit of Higashi-shinjuku Station. The "ki (鬼)" in Kiō literally means ogre/demon and this has led to speculation that the deity being worshipped at the shrine is in fact the Devil, speculation which almost certainly should be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. Nevertheless, it is true that one significant change has been made to the Setsubun ritual as performed at this shrine; the commonly accepted cry of "Ogres Out! Good Luck In!" becomes "Good Luck In! Ogres In!" Presumably it would be tempting fate to try to cast out the jinja's enshrined deity.

 

Of the two in-ground shrines, Ebisu Jinja is one of the stops on the Shinjuku Shichifukujin circuit, while the other, Sangen Jinja, sits atop a Fujizuka. The mound was built in 1842 and is a relatively modest 2m in height. It seems that during the WWII firebombing the mound's foundation stones were destroyed and it was effectively split into two; it remains so to this day.

(Click on images to expand them)

Fujizuka/Sengen Jinja    富士塚/浅間神社

Ebisu Jinja   恵比寿神社

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