About
After exiting the east exit of Ikebukuro Station and passing through the bustling streets, there is a corner where a sudden silence descends. There stands a small shrine, as if left behind by the flow of time. Ikebukuro Shimentou Inari Daimyojin—the name is long and evokes a sense of historical weight.
In the mid-Edo period, around the Kyoho era, this area was a place where street murders and highway robberies were rampant, instilling fear in people. In the summer of the sixth year of Kyoho, a tragedy occurred in which as many as seventeen lives were taken in a single night. Sixty-four volunteers from Ikebukuro Village requested memorial services from the 22nd head priest, Nichiso Shonin, of Houmyou-ji Temple at Zoshigaya Kishimojin, and erected a stone pagoda engraved with the Lotus Sutra’s title. This was the beginning of the Shimentou-son. (jinjyagoshuin.com)
Today, Shimentou-son is enshrined alongside Inari Daimyojin. The two shrine buildings stand close together, as if conversing across time, welcoming visitors. On the upper parts of the shrine buildings, there are splendid carvings of dragons and lions, their eyes shining gold and exuding a lifelike intensity. (jinjyagoshuin.com)
Behind Shimentou-son, cherry blossoms bloom in spring, their pale pink petals dancing in the wind. This scene seems to symbolize the rebirth of this place, which has overcome past tragedies. Visitors quietly put their hands together, offering condolences to the victims of the past and gratitude for the peace of the present.
This place, quietly standing amid the bustle of Ikebukuro, is a special space where history and the present intersect. Those who visit will reflect on the stories of the past and come to appreciate anew the preciousness of today’s peace.