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All Japan Tokyo Shōzoku Inari-jinja Shrine
AO Edited

Shōzoku Inari-jinja Shrine

Thousands of foxes are said to gather and parade across the neighborhood of Ōji on New Year’s Eve.

Tokyo, Japan

Added By
Fred Cherrygarden
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Visit the shrine on New Year’s Eve if you’re interested in yokai folklore.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Visit the shrine on New Year’s Eve if you’re interested in yokai folklore.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Here once stood an old hackberry tree.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
The fox fires of Oji, one of the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.   Utagawa Hiroshige
Local folklore inspired this popular New Year tradition.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Kitsune no Gyoretsu, 2025.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Fox-fires have been brought back to Oji .   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Lanterns.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
The “fox-fires of Ōji” was once a well-known story.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Shōzoku Inari-jinja Shrine, Ōji.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Foxes are servants of the god of rice, Inari.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Thousands of foxes gather here on New Year’s Eve.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Once upon a time in the rustic village of Ōji, in the suburbs of Edo—present-day Tokyo—stood a tall tree known as Shōzoku Enoki, or the "Garment Hackberry." It was so named due to a well-known local legend: it was said that foxes from all across the Kantō region would gather here on New Year's Eve, dress up and make a half-mile pilgrimage to Ōji Inari Shrine.

Lanterns were carried by the paranormal pilgrims along the way and appeared to the villagers as fox-fires, a New Year tradition immortalized by ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige in his One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

The tree was cut down in 1929 to make room for the construction of a road, and an Inari shrine was later founded on the site in its honor. In 1993, locals started to parade the pilgrimage route wearing fox masks on New Year's Eve, which has since grown to be a popular annual event, attended by tens of thousands of people, a majority of them foreign tourists.

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Festivals Shrines Foxes

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The shrine can be visited 24/7. Yamawa, the pottery shop in front of the shrine, is known for its large inventory of fox masks, available in nearly 300 types, often said to be the largest stock of its kind in Japan.

The Kitsune no Gyoretsu parade is held every year on New Year's Eve, starting at Shōzoku Inari Shrine at midnight and culminating in the New Year ceremony at Ōji Inari Shrine.

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Fred Cherrygarden

Published

March 27, 2025

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Shōzoku Inari-jinja Shrine
Tokyo, 114-0002
Japan
35.756412, 139.737928
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Photo of Tokyo

Tokyo

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Stories 13

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Stories 13

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