I performed the New Year’s visit to a Shinto shrine Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine on Mt.Fuji. There are 1,300 branches of Sengen Taisha Shrine in a country, the Mount Fuji Hongu Asama is the top of them.

On the way we entered at the Yokohama Machida Interchange of Tomei Expressway and was the drive for approximately two hours.

Service area

We entered Shin-toumei HWY after passing Gotemba, and dropped in at a service area NEOPASA (neo-parser) in Suruga Gulf Numazu(the lower area) on the way.

In Gulf of this Suruga Numazu (the lower area), I can overlook Gulf of Suruga from the sea side terrace of the hill.

We can watch scenery while eating at a restaurant inside the building, or buy food at shop and go outside terrace and relax.

If a timing is right it is the good place of the view, please enjoy the ocean view that you drop in by all means, and Gulf of Suruga overlook.

Mall

After leaving the Shin-Toumei Service Area headed non-stop for Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine. We left the Shin-Fuji IC tollgate of Shin-Toumei and enter the West Fuji Road, it took about 20 min. to get to the shrine.

Signboard will tell you the end point of the west Fuji road terminal, it just becomes the general way and, via Koizumi Wakamiya, each intersection of Nakakoizumi, makes a left turn at “in front of east High School” intersection.

We made a left turn and proceed 100 meters, turn right immediately at an intersection with Circle K Shop and arrived at the intersection of “the Sengen Taisha Shrine”, then I advance straight to the way afterward in Route 76.

Because there was the sign of the temporary parking lot this time on our side of “the Sengen Taisha Shrine front gate” intersection, we decided to park there. We predicted that the closest parking lot to the Sengen Taisha Shrine could be crowded and choose the temporary parking lot in the slightly remote place, guess it turned to be a right decision. I7m telling you this because on the way from parking to the shrine we could pass a wonderful shopping street.

The main mall is along Route 76, but one street behind there is an atmosphere of the nostargic Showa remaining.

There are such as a toy store, clothes shop, a tea dealer, a liquor shop, a cafe, a gallery, shop dealing in kimono fabrics, an electricity person, a vegetable store, a shoemaker, a stamp shop, a musical instrument shop. Many of the restaurants were closed because of holiday break, but I want to come again in the usual weekday by all means.

On the homepage of the Fujinomiya mall league, six malls were introduced in a internet when I checked it later.

You can download the shop guide introducing each store of the Fujinomiya mall, please visit with a map on your hand.

I was the type that I put into an action quickly on a whim, but the sense of the reflection sprouted a little when I knew the information of the restaurant which I missed later saying it was saying “you should have checked it beforehand”.

Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine

By the way, pass through the main mall, and arrival in Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine.

There are restroom and souvenir shop “kokozurayo” immediately after you enter from the torii gate with the large garden lantern right by the intersection in front of Sengen Taisha Shrine.

In souvenir shop “kokozurayo,” I sell sweet amazake drink made from sake, Ice Cream, local sake, tea, a cake, a souvenir and special products including the continuation Grand Prix “Fujinomiya Yakisoba” which won for Class B gourmettwo years.

Through a torii, we went to tower gate, the front shrine.

Approach to a shrine

The approach from the torii to a front shrine, on the left side there’s the first parking lot, the right hand side here’s the open square, approximately 200 meters long.

On this approach a branch (show) lined stores crowdedly. Including the Fujinomiya Yakisoba which I introduced earlier, it is the fun scenes just looking, does not get tired either, Things you see are such as banana chocolate, baked potato with butter, Hiroshima pancake, griled corn, Yakitori, strawberry candy, Super rubber Bowl, smoked chicken, the foods grilled sweetfish, chicken steak, takoyaki octopus dumplings, cotton candy.

A foreigner put many times this scene in the camera whether a branch (stall) was “the grilled salty sweetfish”, and the scene which I leaned the skewering sweetfish on brazier was rare.

Legend of a mirror-pond, tower gate

An arched bridge appeared on the center of a mirror-pond (one glasses pond), which is called Taikobashi Bridge and in the mirror-pond to spread through both sides of this arched bridge, a big carps swim elegantly. The arched bridge (shave chopsticks) was made of stone in 1915, seemed to be remodelled as enthronement memory.

It is the gate which the tower gate and quite big as you see it in a photograph, and is excellent. The size of the tower gate is guided as the second story mother appearance of a house (irimoya zukuri), of four ken (approximately 7.2m) of frontages, six ken (approximately 11.7m) of height.

Imperial guard image (zuijinzou) city designation tangible cultural property

To a stone stairway before the tower gate, Hokotate stone is worshiped and seems to be the stone which put up God pike (chew a pike) to Yamamiya in the case of God good luck in April and a large festival in November, practiced until the Meiji early years.

Front shrine

Front shrine is seen on immature side of the precincts when we come through tower gate. A front shrine seems to be donated by of General Ieyasu Tokugawa as well as a main shrine. The whole building is cinnabar red, and there is a calm personality with the depth in the bright dress. I cast a money offering at the offertory box which was in the center front row here and prayed for the health of the family. when I pulled the sacred lot which there was right next to an offertory box, it appeared with “great good luck” . It became the head start at the beginning of the New Year.

A New Year’s visit to a Shinto shrine in the Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine for the first time this time, I felt that the whole this district lives together with the balance that an atmosphere and the solemnity to soften of the heart are good at all. On the last day of the year, it will be full of more people, but it was on the afternoon of January 2 we were able to move smoothly without being kept waiting on traffic queue.

It is branded on my eyes as a nostalgic atmosphere of the Showa era and an atmosphere of the tasteful town where the historical mall that begins to buy it, and was ever full as a doorway of the merchants is interested in me very much, and air is under the strain tight when one step enters the precincts in contrast with the branch of the approach to a shrine and feels as if I was able to remind you of the sense that it cannot be said at all by having dropped in at this town including the comfortable feeling of strain.

Unfortunately I was not able to put the main shrine and the main shrine in We missed some shots, but decide to pray for the New Year’s visit to a Shinto shrine of the next year being able to come again, and to put the writing brush of this article. A main shrine and other guides appointed as a national treasure or an important cultural property of the countries, please refer to an official site of the Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine.

Basic Information

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