[Shinto Shrines] Kōenji Hikawa Shrine (高円寺氷川神社) & Kishō (Weather) Shrine (気象神社)
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| Koenji Hikawa Shrine (高円寺氷川神社) |
According to the Edo Meisho Zue, an illustrated guidebook of Edo published in 1834 and 1836, when Minamoto no Yoritomo arrived in the Suginami District of Musashi Province during his military campaign to subdue Oshu, some of his soldiers stayed behind and eventually became farmers in the region. Some accounts suggest these soldiers were of the Murata family, which became a prominent family of the Koenji region, who met with a messenger from Hikawa-Jinja Shrine in the Takahana District of Omiya, Musashi Province, conveying divine intentions and later founded the Koenji Hikawa Shrine in an highland location with abundant cedar trees in the region.
However, it is also said the shrine was founded around the same time when Koenji Temple was built which served as its betto-ji. Due to the destruction of old records in fires, the exact origin of the shrine remains unclear.
The current shrine building was reconstructed in 1974, following the destruction of the previous building during World War II.
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| Kisho (Weather) Shrine (気象神社) |
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| Display board showing weather data at the shrine's entrance |
On the west side of Koenji Hikawa Shrine is Japan's one and only weather shrine, Kisho Shrine (気象神社), enshrining the kami Yagokoro Omoikane no Mikoto (八意思兼命) believed to control the eight weather conditions; sunny, cloudy, rainy, thundery, windy, frosty, snowy, and foggy. Kisho Shrine was founded on April 1944 within the Army Weather Department of the Imperial Japanese Army, in the Mabashi District of Suginami-ku, as weather forecasts were crucial for military strategies and tactics. After World War II, the shrine was initially supposed to be removed due to the Shinto Directive to end State Shinto. However, it remained due to an oversight. The then-head priest of Koenji Hikawa Shrine, Minoru Yamamoto, decided to look after Kisho Shrine and it was relocated to the grounds of Koenji Hikawa Shrine. As part of the 55th anniversary of the relocation, the shrine building of Kisho Shrine was rebuilt in June 2003 due to its deterioration.
There are also three Inari shrines, relocated from Koenji 1-chome to Koenji Hikawa Shrine on August 28, 1962, and a couple of chikaraishi behind Kisho Shrine.
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| Chikaraishi |
Next to the torii of Kisho Shrine stands a statue of a calico cat named Miké-san (ミケさん), who was first seen at the shrine around 1998. At the end of 2017, it was reported that the cat had passed away behind the honden of Koenji Hikawa Shrine, with its paws together as if in prayer.
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| Statue of Mike-san |
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