Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin

Hundreds of stone foxes are staring at you. Every size, every posture, every expression — some grinning, some solemn, some wearing tiny red bibs. They are crammed onto every available surface of this small temple tucked into the Akasaka business district. Each one is a messenger to Inari, the deity of prosperity, and the sheer density of them creates an effect that is equal parts beautiful and unsettling.

This place breaks the rules of Japanese religion in an interesting way. Technically, it is a Buddhist temple. But it is dedicated to Inari, who is a Shinto deity. Before the Meiji government forced a strict separation of Buddhism and Shintoism in eighteen sixty-eight, this kind of blending was common across Japan. Toyokawa Inari preserves that older, syncretic tradition. It was established at this location in eighteen twenty-eight as a branch of the main Toyokawa Inari shrine in Aichi Prefecture.

The temple is a favourite of Japanese celebrities and entertainers. There is a dedicated sub-shrine for entertainment industry success, and singers, actors, and television personalities regularly come to pray for fame and ratings. Expectant mothers visit a separate area to pray for safe childbirth. The temple somehow manages to serve very different audiences without any of them feeling out of place.

Red lanterns line the wall along Aoyama-dori Avenue, and thousands of red prayer banners flutter inside, creating a vivid corridor of colour. Walk to the back of the complex and you will find the densest concentration of fox statues. Most visitors to Akasaka walk right past the entrance without realising this place is here. It sits between office towers and government buildings, invisible unless you know to look.