after climbing all the stairs you are rewarded with a very nice tranquil place,i took the path down round the back what ended in a very nice old local estate
after climbing all the stairs you are rewarded with a very nice tranquil place,i took the path down round the back what ended in a very nice old local estate
Yesterday there was a festival at the shrine and the atmosphere was great. However, it is a small place with a very steep stairs. I do like the location of it - in the middle of skyscrapers. Awesome taiko drumming during the festival!
This Shrine is best known for the crazy-high stairs that lead to it. However, there are actually at least two other ways to get to the shrine that doesn't involve dying - down the street by the small tunnel and using a side street. We came here at night and saw quite a lot of wildlife - a lot of cats and something like a racoon. With the lighting around the water features, the grounds were very pretty. Just don't take those stairs!
Atago Shrine is a little off on it's own which probably helps it to not be too busy as it is hidden away behind a bunch of towers and general business district.
The main draw of the shrine is the famous stairway and the story that relates. The 'success stairs' are pretty steep and require some effort to get up, if you get vertigo or the like it may not be the thing for you - there is an easier stairway off to the side and though i can't say for sure it didn't look that much better, there is a road up to the site from the other side so if you really want to visit but can't or don't want to make the stairs there may be other routes in.
Once up the top there is not an awful lot to see, a beautiful pond with fish you can feed if you buy the right stuff from the little shop, the temple (of course) but as with most it is very much view from the edge and not much more besides.
Nice to say you've been there and done it but not worth a special trip if you are on limited time.
The Atago Shrine in the center of Tokyo's business district near Toranomon is a Shinto shrine built in 1603 on the order of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first Shogun of Edo district. The shrine is located on Atago Hill, which is 26 meters above sea level. The very steep stairs leading to the shrine are also famous, as they represent success in life. According to legend, a young samurai dared to ride his horse up the stairs to deliver plum blossoms to the shogun. It took his horse only one min to get up, but 45 min to get down. The shrine was erected to protect the residents from fire, since its formerly excellent view was well suited to watch for fires, and therefore the main Shinto god worshiped in this shrine is the fire god Homusubi no Mikoto. Other gods worshipped are also Mizuhanome no Mikoto (a god of water), Ōyamazumi no Mikoto (a god of mountains) and Yamato Takeru no Mikoto (a god of military). There is a small pond with tons of carp and you can buy little bags of fish food for 100 yen. There is also a small tea room selling tea and sweets and the shrine selling fortunes.
This is a pretty grab with as pond and shrine. All are nice but not different from similar attractions except that it is some 85 get above sea level making it there highest land within the city. Traditionally you get here by climbing one of two step staircases but there guidebooks fail to tell you you can both drive up and there is an elevator just as you leave the tunnel which is on the router from the sub way o the site. Using the elevator made it all seem worth while b