池袋氷川神社 
Ikebukuro-Hikawa Jinja

History

Information of this shrine’s history is a little sparse. It was mentioned as the tutelary deity for Ikebukuro village in the 1830 Shinpen, but there seems to have been human activity on the site for a long time prior to that. Pottery shards dating back to the late Jōmon Period, about 3,500 years ago, have been excavated from the site. A river, Yabata-gawa, used to flow through the shrine’s grounds and during the Meiji Period items such as comma shaped beads and clay figures of equally ancient provenance were excavated from its bed. The shrine was destroyed during the Great Tokyo Air Raid of 1945, and reconstruction of the main hall was finally completed in 1965. 

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Description

About 6-7 mins on foot from Shimo-Itabashi Station. Perhaps its main outstanding feature is its Fujizuka. Built in 1912 and situated to the left in front of the main hall it is of relatively modest height, 5 m or so.