Being caught up with work, I’d let my “Tokyo Strolls” fall by the wayside, and before I knew it, the autumn colors had arrived in the city. Since I happened to have a day off, I decided to walk my usual route again for the first time in a while: Karasuyama River Greenway → Mishuku Shrine → Setagaya Park.
Mishuku Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Mishuku, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. Its grounds partly occupy the former site of Tamonji Temple, which has since been closed. In 1885, a worship hall was added in front of the Bishamon Hall—formerly part of Tamonji’s temple buildings—and the site was named Mishuku Shrine.
I had always thought it was unusual for a Shinto shrine to enshrine Bishamonten, but it turns out there is a historical reason for this.
In the early Meiji period, Tamonji Temple was abolished in the wave of anti-Buddhist policies.
When the founders applied to Tokyo Prefecture to register Bishamonten as the deity, the request was denied, and they resubmitted the application naming Ōmononushi-no-Mikoto instead. In the end, the shrine came to enshrine both Bishamonten and Ukanomitama-no-Mikoto.
世田谷公園もいつのまにか綺麗に紅葉していた。赤系のじゅもくは少ないが、イチョウやケヤキなどの効用が見事だった。 Setagaya Park, too, had quietly slipped into beautiful autumn colors. There aren’t many red-leafed trees, but the golden ginkgo and the zelkova were stunning.
The “Prayer for Peace” statue was installed in December 1986—designated as the International Year of Peace—to commemorate Setagaya Ward’s peace declaration, funded by donations from residents wishing for peace. It’s one of my regular photo subjects, but the busy background makes it surprisingly hard to capture well.
この日は平日とあって、ミニSLは動いておらず、プレーパークの子供もまばらだった。 Since it was a weekday, the mini steam train wasn’t running, and there were only a few children in the play park.
三宿通沿いにある「ラ・ボエム」で注文したしらすのジェノベーゼ。ランチタイムが終了していたので、単品でこのパスタとコーヒーを頼んだら2000円近くかかってしまった。 At La Bohème on Shukudōri, I ordered the shirasu Genovese. Since lunch hours had already ended, ordering just the pasta and a coffee à la carte ended up costing nearly 2,000 yen.