Ōmiya Hachimangū Shrine

photo by tongking.spirit · CC BY 3.0

photo by Yukiusa · CC BY-SA 4.0

Its woodland is a Tokyo natural monument: grounds of about 5 hectares, the third largest in the 23 wards.

Its woodland (社叢, the forest surrounding a shrine) covers most of the roughly 5 hectares of grounds (the third largest among the shrines of the 23 wards) and is one of the last remnants of the Musashino lowland forest: it is a natural monument of Tokyo Prefecture. People pray here for a safe pregnancy and for the rites of children aged three, five and seven; the grounds also have an archery range, rare in a city shrine.

Founded in 1063 according to the shrine's tradition, it is one of the eight Hachiman shrines built in Edo (江戸八所八幡) and is nicknamed ‘the navel of Tokyo’ for its central position in the metropolitan area. The woodland surrounding it is classified as a natural monument of Tokyo Prefecture.

ℹ️ Free entry; the official site publishes no general gate hours, only the counter times: 9:30–16:30 for prayers by booking, 10:00–17:00 for the telephone. During a booked rite the wait can exceed an hour; at some times of the year the shrine bans private photography in the grounds. Free car park.

🚉 Eifukucho · 11 min walk

Sources: ohmiya-hachimangu.or.jp · ja.wikipedia.org

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