On January 1st, we visited two of these shrines. We started our time in Ekoda by visiting Sengen Jinja, where we "climbed" Mount Fuji. My husband had gone to a different shrine on a previous visit and wanted to show it to me. It was just a short 5 minute walk from Sengen Jinja. Even though there was construction going on directly in front of the shrine, we just walked around the block to an alternate route and still found it very easy to get to.
Musashino Inari Shrine has an impressive gate at its entrance. Carved zodiac animals are just above head level. We liked finding the rat, as it is the year of the rat, as well as each of our own zodiac animals. The gate is filled with so many interesting things to look at. I'm glad I took the time to really take it all in.
Inside the shrine grounds is small, but very peaceful. I have grown accustomed to very simple shrines without a lot of color variation in the buildings, but this one has bright pops of color all over. I found it to be very aesthetically pleasing.
There is even a short row of red torii gates to walk through, which is always a delight.
I also enjoyed the stone statues scattered around the grounds. The size of this statue of the seven lucky Shinto gods was impressive.
I could see going to this shrine on a bad day and walking away with a renewed attitude. It had a wonderful energy that is hard to explain and even harder to find. I really enjoyed my time here. It was a great place to visit on the first day of the year. As an added bonus, this was the only shrine without a line to pray at!
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