One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.18Oji Inari Shrine

In ancient times, Inari Shrine enshrined a harvest god which was worshipped by farmers wanting to have a bumper rice crop. During the Edo period, the god was also believed to bring prosperity to commerce, industry and even show business. As a result, numerous Inari shrines were built at various places in Edo city.
The shrine at Oji was the largest in the Kanto Region including Edo city, controlling all the Inari shrines in the region. The outside of the shrine building and torii (archway) were usually painted in vermilion and thus easily recognizable by visitors.
The 8th-generation shogun developed the Oji area as an excursion resort for people of Edo city. This development included cherry blossoms on Asukayama, waterfalls and maple trees along the Takino River ravine. Due to these attractions, the number of visitors coming to this area, and thereby to Inari Shrine, increased.
A famous kabuki actor of the Edo period, Ichikawa Danjuro, was advised to visit the shrine to pray for success in his new play, Shibaraku (one of his family’s best plays). His visit to Inari Shrine at Oji and his success in the new play enhanced the popularity of the shrine.
It is believed that the gods descend from heaven to earth onto tall objects and therefore a shrine is normally built on a hill. A flight of stone steps usually leads to the shrine. In this print Inari Shrine is shown surrounded by tall trees and is crowded with visitors, some of whom are climbing the stone steps to the shrine.
At the foot of the hill stand restaurants where visitors could enjoy a meal after worshipping at the shrine. Above the restaurants are Japanese apricot blossoms in full bloom, and paddy fields extending to the bank of the Arakawa River (upstream of the Sumida River) lay beyond the restaurants and houses. In the distance is Mt. Tsukuba and the surrounding mountains (see No. 118).