花園神社 Hanazono-jinja
Main sanctuary. Lanterns for the May festival.
PhotoStitcher (multi photo image) Main Sanctuary.
神楽殿 Kaguraden Sacred dance/music stage
Musicians performing at the May festival.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Panoramic view of the 神楽殿 Kaguraden on the left and the 威徳稲荷大明神 Itoku Inari Daimyōjin Shrine and the torii tunnel on the right. On the far left edge is the 納め大明神 Osame Daimyōjin Shrine
威徳稲荷大明神 Itoku Inari Daimyōjin
Torii tunnel leading to the shrine.
A crudely joined pair of photos providing a side view of the torii tunnell.
Stone lanterns at the entrance to the torii tunnel.
Stone lantern details.
No 'senjafuda'-rectangular paper calling cards pasted by pilgrims on torii gates, in the eves of shrines, etc.; sort of a religious 'Kilroy was here'. Holy graffiti.
Fox guardians. This large pair are especially nice. My parents had a poster sized blowup of the left fox in their home.
More fox statues.
Shrine sanctuary and name plaque.
Behind the name plaque, nestled on a pair of zabuton cushions is a wooden phallus.
Something that big, you've got to chain it down.
"Knock on Wood", anyone?
唐獅子 (新宿区有形文化財) Karashishi (Tangible Cultural Property of Shinjuku Ward) cast 1821
Flanking the Yasukuni-dori entrance to the Hanazono shrine are male and female fantastical lions cast in 1821 (2021 is the bicentennial) by the master craftsman 村田整珉 Murata Seiko after a model by Sawaki Kazuma.
Description of the lions and information about the forging process in 1821.
Torii gates leading to Yasukuni-dori (South entrance). The Lions can just be seen just inside the natural wood torii at the end of the walkway.
大鳥居 Ōtorii [Great Torii Gate] Meiji-dori entrance
The steel torii is extra tall to permit mikoshi (portable shrines) to be carried through in the May festival.
納め大明神 Osame Daimyōjin
Matsuri
