Tokyo · Akihabara and Kanda
Kanda Myojin Shrine
The official name is Kanda Jinja, and everyone calls it 'Myojin-sama'. According to the shrine, it was founded in 730 near today's Otemachi and moved to its current site in 1616, when the Tokugawa shogunate built it as the northeastern guardian of Edo Castle. Three deities are worshipped here: Daikoku, for matchmaking, Ebisu, for commerce, and Taira no Masakado, a 10th-century warrior who became a protective deity against disasters. The shrine is the patron shrine of 108 neighborhoods, among them Kanda, Nihonbashi and Akihabara, and in 2029 it will mark 1,300 years since its founding.
The red main hall looks like wood, but it was built in 1934 from concrete and steel, after the 1923 earthquake burned down the Edo-period hall. Thanks to this it survived the bombing of Tokyo in 1945, when most of the other buildings in the grounds burned. The entrance gate, Zuishin-mon, was rebuilt in cypress wood in the 70s. A large stone statue of Daikoku stands in the grounds, and according to the shrine it is the largest stone Daikoku statue in Japan.
The shrine sells an 'information and IT protection' charm in the shape of a card, for computers and phones, and takes part in collaborations with anime series, for example 'The Apothecary Diaries' at the last Kanda Festival. The EDOCCO building, opened in 2018 at the entrance, has the shrine's souvenir shop. The Kanda Festival, one of the largest in Tokyo, is held in mid-May in odd-numbered years, so the next one is in May 2027. The exact dates have not been published yet.
Good to know
- The IT charm and the other charms are sold at the counter next to the main hall, 09:00-18:00. If you come in the evening, the grounds are open and the counter is closed.
- The shrine museum, to the left of the main hall, shows models of the Kanda Festival in the Edo period and items from the anime collaborations. 09:00-16:00, closed Thursday, ¥500. At the start of the year and during special exhibitions the hours change, so check the website.
- From Akihabara it is a 7-minute walk up from the Electric Town exit. On the east side of the grounds the steep Otoko-zaka stairs, donated by Kanda firefighters in the Edo period, lead down, and they are the short way back.
- From 1 to 17 January the charm counter has extended hours, from 06:30 on the first days and until 21:40. These are the most crowded days of the year.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Kanda Myojin Shrine.
- HereKanda Myojin Shrine
- 1 min
Amanoya Food
An amazake house, a sweet non-alcoholic rice drink, next to the shrine's torii gate. According to the shop, the koji has been fermented in an earthen cellar about 6 meters deep since it opened. There is a takeaway shop and a teahouse to sit in.
- 1 min
EDOCCO CAFE MASUMASU Cafe
A cafe on the ground floor of the EDOCCO building, at the shrine entrance, next to its souvenir shop.
- ~3 min
Yushima Seido More to see
A Confucius shrine founded by the shogun Tsunayoshi in 1690, which housed the official school of the shogunate. The buildings burned in 1923 and were rebuilt in 1935. Entry is free, and the main hall, Taiseiden, is open only on weekends and holidays from 10:00.
- ~7 min
Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nicholai-do) More to see
A Russian Orthodox cathedral with a green dome, across the Hijiri-bashi bridge. You can enter part of the hall. ¥300.
- ~7 min
Akihabara Electric Town Street
The electronics and anime district: Radio Kaikan (10 floors, most of them figures and cards), Animate, Mandarake for secondhand, and gachapo
- ~8 min
mAAch ecute Kanda Manseibashi Food
Shops and restaurants in the brick arches of the 1912 Manseibashi Station, under the Chuo Line tracks. At Hitachino Brewing Lab you drink Hitachino beer on tap, and a 1912 staircase climbs to the old platform, between the tracks.
Appears in: Akihabara, Jimbocho and Kanda: anime, guitars, books and soba · Old Tokyo on foot: Senso-ji, Ueno, Yanaka, Nezu and Kanda