Near Shinagawa Station, this shrine is popular with devotees seeking to improve their financial fortunes. Locals believe the shrine was established in 1187 by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun and founder of the Kamakura shogunate, to honour a deity who protects seafarers and ensures that prayers are answered. Today the shrine is closely associated with Daikokuten, the god of wealth and one of the ‘Seven Deities of the Tokai Region’ and, as such, Shinagawa Shrine is revered as one of the ‘Ten Tokyo Shrines’.
The shrine grounds are home to Fuji-zuka, a 15-metre man- made hill created in 1869 by a group of Mt Fuji worshippers known as Fuji-ko, to symbolise the act of scaling the sacred mountain itself. The spring equinox sees a ritual known as the ‘Pilgrimage of the Seven Torii Gates’, at which participants walk through the seven torii gates on the shrine grounds to pray for health and a long life.