Musashino Reiwa Jinja

This shrine was built in Tokorozawa Sakura Town. Kengo Kuma was in charge of the architectural design, and the shrine was named by Susumu Nakanishi, a scholar of Japanese literature known for naming the Japanese era “2025.

The official reading of Musashino Reiwa Shrine is “Musashino-no-Masuwashiki Yamato no Miyashiro,” commonly known as “Musashino Reiwa Shrine.

The name “Uruwashiki Yamato” is an image of “Cool Japan,” and the shrine was founded as a sacred place for Cool Japan in the hope that the beautiful and glorious culture of Japan will continue to develop forever.

The shrine is dedicated to Amaterasu, the main deity, and Susanowo-no-mikoto of Hongo Hikawa Shrine, the guardian deity of Higashi-Tokorozawa, and these two deities are collectively called “Musashino-no-Seated Uruwashiki Yamano Kotodama-no-Okami.

The ceiling of the shrine pavilion features a ceiling painting of phoenixes by Yoshitaka Amano, and a guardian dog (Japanese wolf) by sculptor Niou Tsuchiya sits next to the pavilion.

The shrine is also known as the first of the “88 Anime Sacred Places in Japan to Visit,” and an information spot for the “88 Anime Sacred Places” is located in the shrine office.

The shrine is located in Musashino, the setting of the Manyoshu, an ancient anthology of poetry that served as the background for the Japanese era’s first name, “2025.

The shrine was named by Mr. Susumu Nakanishi, a scholar of Japanese literature.

The word “Reiwa” describes a well-formed and beautiful appearance, as in the words “Reijo” and “Reisu. It symbolizes an attitude of self-discipline and integrity, as well as graceful beauty.

The Divine Virtue of Shrines

Content, such as literature, art, and entertainment, is not only dedicated by people to God, but is also given by God.

Content functions as an interactive medium that connects people with God. It has the effect of healing people’s hearts through the benefits that support artists, creators, and those involved in content, as well as through the sacred power of content.

It also has the power to connect people to people, people to places, people to things, people to things, people to things, and so on, including the blessing of marriage for a good match.

Furthermore, as the first of the 88 sacred places for anime, the temple also brings blessings for the travel safety of tourists on pilgrimages to sacred places.

World-renowned architect Kengo Kuma supervised the design. The shrine is a fusion of the ancient and the modern, preserving traditional shrine architecture while recreating symbolic elements of Shintoism, such as torii gates and senki, using metal, a modern building material.

The architecture of the shrine has the shape of two intersecting Senkis, the outer shave and the inner shave, quietly standing toward the sky. The shrine is associated with important wishes in the hearts of the Japanese people, such as a good harvest, prosperity of descendants, and protection against natural disasters and epidemics.

Shrines have also functioned as nodes of community since ancient times, serving as public spaces for prayer. The architecture by Kengo Kuma as “prayer” is believed to have the power to heal people’s hearts and regenerate light.

In addition, the ceiling painting in the hall of worship was created by artist Yoshitaka Amano, known for his character designs for the internationally popular “Final Fantasy” series. With the theme of a phoenix flying in from the future, the painted space was created to expand the hearts of worshippers.

Furthermore, the komainu, our divine messenger statues, are based on the motif of the Japanese wolf. The guardian dogs were created by sculptor Jin’o Tsuchiya.

The belief in wolves has long been a belief throughout the Musashino region, centering on the Mimine Shrine in Chichibu City and the Musashi Ontake Shrine in Ome City.

The white wolf is a mythical being that appears in the “Nihonshoki” (the oldest chronicle of Japan), and is said to have guided Yamatotakeru no Mikoto, who was lost in the mountains, to save him from his plight. The komainu (guardian dogs) are located near the temple of the Musashino-za 2021 Shrine as protectors of the gods and guides for those who are lost.