Just two hours north of Tokyo lies the often overlooked region of Chichibu.
Surrounded by abundant natural beauty, many come here to experience the connection between
nature and religion.
The area has three major shrines, and today we're going to visit all three.
Although today we’ll be traveling by car, the Chichibu region is easily accessible from
Tokyo by a 90 minute limited express train ride operated by Seibu Railways which connects
Ikebukuro to Seibu Chichibu Station.
Our first stop of the day will be the remote Mitsumine Shrine which is in the mountains
and can be reached by bus from Seibu Chichibu Station.
Next we’ll visit Chichibu Shrine which is close to the station
And finally we’ll end the day at Hodosan Shrine which is about a twenty minute walk
from nearby Nagatoro Station.
My name is Raina Ong, staff writer for japan-guide.com, and today I'm on assignment going to the three
major shrines of Chichibu.
We're at Mitsumine Shrine in the mountains and surrounded by nature
There are also stone statues of wolves or ookami along the approach as they are thought
to be protectors of the land and messengers of the gods.
One of Chichibu's meibutsu, or local specialty is soba.
And we're gonna have soba for lunch.
Chichibu Shrine has a history of over 2000 years.
It's also the main shrine for the annual Chichibu Night Festival which is always held in December
and one of Japan's top three festivals to feature floats.
So, not every shrine has this, but
this is kinda like the water omikuji
so there's nothing written on it now
but I'm going to put it in the stream
pond
behind
and we'll see what comes up.
As you can see, the water revealed my fortune
three out of five hearts, it's a pretty good fortune.
We're finally at Hodosan Shrine, which is our last stop of the day.
The gods enshrined here are supposed to protect one against theft, robberies and fires
But many people also come here to pray for prosperity, family safety as well as for love.
With this, we're going to drive off into the sunset.
I hope this video has been enjoyable and perhaps even inspires some ideas should you decide
to plan a trip to Chichibu.
For more information about Chichibu or to watch another video, click the links on the
screen now, or head over to japan-guide.com, your comprehensive, up-to-date travel guide,
first-hand from Japan.
Thanks for watching, and be sure to subscribe for more videos about Japan.
Happy travels.