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Fukagawa Hachiman shrine in Tomioka
Winter
Tomioka Hachiman-gu, founded in 1627, is Tokyo’s largest Hachiman shrine. The shrine was revered from the people of Shitamachi, and familiar as “Hachiman of Fukagawa”. Like in Hiroshige’s depiction, this image doesn’t include the Hachiman shrine itself but only one of the gates is visible leading the road to the temple, nowadays immersed in an urban landscape.
Notes
Its 17 small shrines enshrine various gods including the founder of Sumo wrestling, the gods of travel and the god of prosperity. Sumo wrestling began back in the Edo period in Kyoto and Osaka. While the sport was banned for some time, it resumed on the grounds of Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine. There are monuments to Yokozuna sumo wrestlers inscribed with their names, hand and foot types.