Hie Shrine

Shrine · Tokyo

日枝神社 · Hie Jinja · Sanno-sama

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

A shrine on a wooded rise in Nagatacho, once the guardian of Edo Castle, whose messenger is the monkey, a pun the shrine explains itself, connecting it to warding off evil, to winning, and to the tying of bonds.

Hie Shrine in Akasaka, its buildings set below surrounding office towers — Photo: Luck-one, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts

Address: 2-10-5 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0014
Access: Akasaka station on the Chiyoda line is three minutes from exit 2, and Tameike-sanno on the Namboku and Ginza lines is three minutes from exit 7. Kokkai-gijidomae on the Chiyoda line is five minutes from exit 5, and Akasaka-mitsuke on the Ginza and Marunouchi lines is eight minutes from exit 11.
Hours: The shrine publishes no opening or closing times for the grounds. The prayer office takes bookings from 9:00 to 16:00, which is the only published figure — treat the rest as unofficial.
Best time: The Sanno Matsuri, one of the great festivals of Edo, is held in alternate years in June. The Inari festival, the moon-viewing wind-and-string rite in autumn, and the Koshin rite are the other fixed points, alongside New Year and Setsubun (節分).
Spiritual entities: Ōyamakui no Kami (大山咋神)
Official site: www.hiejinja.net

About this place

Hie Shrine sits above Akasaka on a hill surrounded by government buildings and offices, which makes the wooded approach a sharper contrast than at most Tokyo shrines. It was brought inside Edo Castle in 1478 as its guardian and moved out to the present site after the great fire of 1657. Its deity is Ōyamakui, and its messenger is the monkey, which is where almost everything visitors come here for begins.

Origin and history

Ōta Dōkan brought the Sanno shrine of Kawagoe inside Edo Castle in 1478 to serve as its guardian. Tokugawa Ieyasu later moved it outside the castle walls, and after the great fire of 1657 the shrine was established on its present hill in Akasaka under the third shogun, Iemitsu. Its deity is Ōyamakui, also known as Yamasue no Ōnushi, described by the shrine as governing the growth and development of all things, the prosperity of industry, and the guardianship of land and water.

What it is locally associated with

Power spotProtection & SafetyCareer & Work
The monkey that makes evil leave
The shrine's messenger. Its name masaru is read both as "evil departs" and as "to surpass", which the shrine gives as the source of its warding and winning associations.
documented history
Power spotBonds & Matchmaking
A male and female pair
Two monkey statues stand at the hall, one of each. Because "monkey" can also be read en (the same en as in enmusubi), the pair carries the shrine's matchmaking association.
documented history
Origin
Guardian of Edo Castle
Brought inside the castle in 1478, moved out by Ieyasu, and re-established here after the fire of 1657.
documented history

The shrine lists what it is petitioned for plainly: safe childbirth, the tying of bonds, prosperous trade, the flourishing of a company, and warding off misfortune. Behind those is Ōyamakui, whose remit the shrine describes as the growth and development of all things and the prosperity of industry, which is why a shrine hemmed in by ministries and corporate headquarters reads as a business shrine as much as anything else.

But the reason people single this place out is the monkey, and the shrine explains it rather than leaving it to be guessed. Its own amulet office states that the word masaru carries both "evil departs" and "to surpass or prevail", and that from this the divine virtues of warding off evil, warding off misfortune, and certain victory follow. That is a pun doing theological work, stated by the institution, and it is the basis for the protection and career tags here.

The same animal carries the matchmaking. A male and a female monkey stand as a pair at the hall, and because the character for monkey can also be read en (the same en as in enmusubi, the tying of bonds), the shrine treats the pair as connected to good relationships. Its account of Ōyamakui adds a myth for it: the deity turned into an arrow and so met Tamayorihime by the Kamo river, and a child followed. Prayers for a good match are taken at the grounds office from 9:00 to 16:00 without booking, from ¥10,000. Visitors also touch the monkeys when hoping for a child or an easy birth.

Claims and evidence levels 6

Ōta Dōkan brought the Sanno shrine of Kawagoe inside Edo Castle in 1478 as its guardian; the shrine was later moved outside the walls and established on its present Akasaka site after the fire of 1657. documented history
The enshrined deity is Ōyamakui, also known as Yamasue no Ōnushi, described by the shrine as governing the growth of all things, the prosperity of industry and the guardianship of land and water. documented history
The shrine states that the name of its monkey messenger, masaru, carries both "evil departs" and "to prevail", giving it virtues of warding off evil and misfortune and of certain victory. documented history
Because the character for monkey can be read en, the same syllable as in enmusubi, the shrine connects its paired male and female monkey statues with the tying of bonds. documented history
The shrine lists safe childbirth, the tying of bonds, prosperous trade, company prosperity and warding off misfortune among what it is petitioned for. local custom
Prayers for a good match are taken at the grounds office from 9:00 to 16:00 without advance booking, from ¥10,000. local custom

Visiting tips

The general form is in the visiting guide below. Specific to Hie Shrine:

Photography inside the prayer hall is asked to be refrained from. Outdoors it is fine, provided you are not obstructing the path or other people's worship. The shrine words it exactly that way, as a matter of not getting in the way rather than a prohibition.

The monkey statues are meant to be touched, not merely looked at: people hoping for a child or an easy delivery touch them, which is the local practice rather than a rule.

Two practical notes. No opening or closing times are published for the grounds at all; the only official figure is the prayer office, 9:00 to 16:00. And prayers here are walk-up: the shrine states no advance reservation is needed.

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