Religious, Spiritual sights in Tokyo
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A
Dembō-In
To the left of the temple precinct lies Dembō-in, a garden that adjoins the residence of the chief priest of Sensō-ji. The grounds are thought to have been designed sometime in the late 18th century to resemble those of Katsura-rikyu, the sprawling imperial villa in Kyoto.
Dembō-in is not usually open to the public, but if you'd like to take a peek at the 12,000-sq-metre area, whose pond is reputedly shaped like the Chinese character for 'heart', call ahead to the main office, which is to the left of the five-storey pagoda.
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B
Chingodō-Ji
This odd, peaceful little shrine on the banks of Dembō-in pays tribute to tanuki (raccoon dogs who figure in Japanese myth as mystical shape-shifters and merry pranksters). Tanuki are normally depicted with enormous testicles on which they can fly. Since (needless to say) they make for great subject matter, they frequently pop up in Japanese wood-cuts like Utagawa Kuniyoshi's The Seven Wonders of the Clowning Raccoon, in which the tanuki is shown cheerily dancing his way round a geisha house.
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C
Hachiman-Jinja (Hachiman Temple)
It's so small that you might stroll past and not notice it - which is exactly what makes Hachiman-jinja worth pausing for. Real-estate values in Ginza have generally forced places of worship elsewhere (or relocated them to the rooftops of Ginza's temples of commerce). Near Shimbashi Station, this is one shrine that remains at street level, a feat that was achieved by building over the top of it.
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D
Gokoku-Ji (Gokoku Temple)
Though this temple has been declared an Important Cultural Property, it gets surprisingly few visitors. One of the few surviving Edo temples, it dates from 1680, and was built by the fifth Tokugawa shōgun for his mother. Exiting the temple grounds and turning to the left, you'll soon reach Toshimagaoka Goryo, an imperial mausoleum that is closed to the public.
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E
Kiyomizu Kannon-Dō
This red temple, up the path from the Takamori Saigō statue, was modelled after Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto. During Ningyō-kuyō, women wishing to conceive a child leave a doll here for Senjū Kannon (the 1000-armed goddess of mercy), and the accumulated dolls are ceremonially burnt each 25 September.
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