Visit Shrines

銀座いなり探訪

Visiting Ginza’s Shrines Vol. 8 　Kumagai Inari Shrine

2021.11.01

It is up to the individual which path they will take. However, a path may change depending on the people one meets. This may be similar to how the evolution of a town depends on who lives there.
This time we will cover the story of an Inari Shrine that has survived until present times through its ties with different people.

Uino
Have you ever experienced having your course of life determined by an encounter with a particular person?
Ogikubo
That is one difficult question to answer coming out of the blue. The way I have lived my life, many people invite me to try different things, and if something seems interesting, I try it. Does the average person find his future defined by a particular overwhelming encounter?
Uino
I was just thinking about how people often talk about how they would not be here today if it were not for so and so when they receive awards.
Ogikubo
I see. We do hear that story quite often. But why start with such a random question?
Uino
Well, that is exactly how the story of Kumagai Inari Shrine goes. It would not be here today if it were not for the people it has come in contact with.
Ogikubo
In which area of Ginza is it located?
Uino
We are in Ginza 7-chome. To get to the shrine, we will walk towards Tsukiji on Hanatsubaki-dori from the Ginza 7-chome intersection.
熊谷稲荷の場所。薄い緑は標高5mくらい、水色は標高2mくらい。中央通りのあたりは古くからの陸地でちょっと標高が高い。
Location of Kumagai Inari. The area shaded in light green has an altitude of around 5 meters, and the area in light blue, around 2 meters.
The area around Chuo-dori was land from old times, and is thus slightly higher than surrounding areas.
Ogikubo
If we walk on, we will arrive at the ruins of Sanjusangenbori River.
Uino
Izumobashi Bridge used to hang over the river, and the shrine was located right near the bridge
Ogikubo
Now I see it. A small shrine in the corner of a building just beyond Sanjusangenbori.
花椿通り沿いの熊谷稲荷神社。ビルの一角にある小さな社だが歴史は古い。
Kumagai Inari Shrine, located on Hanatsubaki-dori. Standing in the corner of a building, it has a long history.
Uino
This is Kumagai Inari Shrine.
Ogikubo
So it has survived the times in the corner of a building. Why is it called Kumagai Inari?
Uino
Since it is a local Inari shrine, it does not have firm historical records. However, the story goes that when Kumagai Naozane, a successful warrior in the Battle of Ichi-no-tani in the Genpei War, dropped by this area during his triumphant return to Kumagaya, he bestowed a talisman for defense in response to the strong request of the local people.
Ogikubo
Kumagai Naozane is a famous warrior. The way it enshrines the Hachiman god, the tutelary deity of the Genji clan, while it is an Inari Shrine, gives reality to its warrior roots.
Uino
Then, that must mean that this area has been here for a long time.
Ogikubo
The Tokaido road came through Ginza in the Edo period, and before then, it was a piece of peninsula-like land extending out southwards called Edomaeshima. You can see that even today, the elevation is still slightly varied in different parts of Ginza. The Inari Shrine was located on the southeastern edge of Edomaeshima. The main road (Kamakura-kaido) did not run through Edomashima back in the times of the Genpei War, so they must have come by boat. Perhaps they took a boat from Kamakura and stopped by one of the fishing villages in this area, and then headed northwards to Kumagaya through Arakawa.
Uino
Wow. Is that true?
Ogikubo
That was just based on my imagination. It happened 800 years ago – I have no way to know. I am more interested in why Kumagai Naozane decided to come out here.
Uino
Kumagai Naozane’s story was a popular theme for plays during the Edo period, wasn’t it?
Ogikubo
You could be right. It might have something to do with the fact that this area was the theater district during the Edo period. Let me take out a local map from back when Sanjusangenbori still existed. I have a map of Kyobashi-ku in 1941 (Showa 16) with me. Let’s see if we can find Kumagai Inari Shrine…
Uino
Wow. I always wonder why you have so many old maps in your possession.
Ogikubo
It is my hobby to collect old maps of Tokyo. See, Izumobashi Bridge is located southeast of the Ginza 7-chome intersection and there is a shrine across the bridge. Although the area is a part Ginza now, it had always been called Kobikicho since the Edo period. Hence, the shrine was a tutelary deity of Kobikicho.
昭和16年の京橋区詳細図（日本統制地図）より。三十三間堀の向こうは銀座ではなく木挽町だった。熊谷稲荷の旧地に神社の記号が描かれている。
”Kyobashiku Shosai-zu (detailed map of Kyobashi-ku)” (Nihon Tosei Chizu)
The area beyond Sanjusangenbori was not yet a part of Ginza, and was called Kobikicho.
The symbol of a shrine is marked where Kumagai Inari Shrine used to sit.
Uino
I see. The shrine used to sit in this location. Why was the area called Kobikicho?
Ogikubo
When they built Edo Palace, the “kobiki” artisans were gathered in this area. “Kobiki” artisans are the craftsmen who sawed logs into lumber and boards. The logs were transported by boat, so this area along the Sanjusangenbori was ideal. It was later on that it became a theater district.
江戸切絵図（国立国会図書館蔵）より。赤く囲ったエリアが木挽町6丁目で、熊谷稲荷の鎮座地。
”Edokirie-zu” (National Diet Library collection)
The area outlined in red is Kobikicho 6-chome, where Kumagai Inari Shrine stood.
Uino
The Inari Shrine later survived warfare. It miraculously remained standing in the ashes when all the other buildings surrounding it had been burnt down. On the other hand, Sanjusangenbori was buried and disappeared from local maps for a while.
Ogikubo
Perhaps because it was not lost in the fires, the shrine can still be found on maps made after the river was buried.
昭和28年の中央区詳細図（日地出版）より。三十三間堀は埋め立てられたが神社はまだ残っている。
from ”Chuo-ku Shosai-zu (detailed map of Chuo-ku)” (Nicchi Shuppan)
Although Sanjusangenbori was buried, the shrine still remains.
Ogikubo
But I guess even an Inari Shrine with such a history eventually became lost as Kobikicho became a part of Ginza and building after building was built across the area from Ginza to Higashi Ginza.
Uino
Yes, that is right. Actually, the shrine was moved to its current location only recently in 2018.
Ogikubo
I’m very interested to know how the Inari Shrine in Ginza was protected and restored.
Uino
Close to the Inari Shrine in Kobikicho lived Takemoto Kintaro, leader of the fire-fighting team of “Mo-gumi,” the local reciprocal support group, and a locally famous chanter of the fire-fighting song. Takemoto-san had looked after the shrine from before World War II. There could be no better team than a fire-fighting team to protect a shrine enshrining a deity of fire-prevention. I have heard of a saga that the team discovered from among heaps of documents, records of the shrine being solicitated from Fushimi Inari Shrine, the headquarter of Inari Shrines
Ogikubo
It would be difficult to find any district today with such solidarity.
Uino
That is true. It is unfortunate that culture based on strong human ties are disappearing. The land in this area was sold to the private sector after Sanjusangenbori was buried. Landowners changed from time to time, and smaller pieces of land were eventually consolidated to for large construction projects.
Ogikubo
So people became dispersed, and the land was consolidated. And in that process, the shrine was moved around.
Uino
Yes. It was sometimes located in a narrow space between buildings and other times, in a narrow backstreet. It changed its location several times within the same block. As it became hard to find, less people knew about it, and it eventually disappeared from local maps. It took thirty years to put together one large piece of land to construct one large building – HOTEL MUSSE. There were discussions over many different ideas of where to place the shrine – whether to move it to the rooftop, or to the entrance of the hotel, close to where it originally stood. However, it was concluded that a shrine should be facing the main street to allow many people to stop by for worship. This is how they decided to build it on Hanatsubaki-dori.
Ogikubo
That is why it stands where Sanjusangenbori used to run.
Uino
What’s more, the shrine has modern features that you would only find in a town like Ginza with tall buildings. The shrine pavilion and torii gate can be moved.
Ogikubo
What for?
Uino
The power switchboard of the building is right behind the shrine so it had to be movable in case someone had to open the switchboard.
Ogikubo
How clever. Now that you have mentioned it, it actually does look movable.
よーく見ると、鳥居と社殿は地面に埋まっておらず、確かに動きそう。
Looking closely, one can see that the torii gate and pavilion is not fixed in the ground.
Uino
Although it has moved around and changed its appearance, Kumagai Inari Shrine has continued to be supported by the people of the times. Today, it even participates in the Visiting Ginza Hatcho Shrines pilgrimage.
Ogikubo
Starting as a tutelary deity of Kobikicho, where sawmill workers were gathered in the Edo period, it was later looked after by Takemoto-san, leader of the local fire-fighting team, followed by the current owner who has care for it through the building boom during the high-growth period and bubble economy up until now. Finally, in Reiwa, t has been restored on the main street.
Uino
Yes. Kumagai Inari Shrine has continued to be the local tutelary deity, changing its appearance under the care of different people. Perhaps it carefully chose the people who it would be involved with. Encounters with the shrine may have changed people’s lives too. The story sounds different from how we started out, but I guess that is fate too.