Confidence
| Field | Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shrine name | 99% | Center calligraphy reads 浅草神社 cleanly. Top-right red rectangle in tensho reads 「奉拝 浅草神社」. Bottom-left red square seal reads 浅草神社 in tensho. The red round seal in the center features the 三 in a circle — the Sanja (三社 — "three shrines") logo, the shrine's signature symbol referencing the three deities and the Sanja Festival. |
| Date | 97% | Left column reads 令和六年五月二十日 = 20 May 2024. Same Tokyo day as a chain of other shrines/temples in this book (entries 12–18). |
Identification
- Name (Japanese): 浅草神社 (popular nickname: 三社様 / Sanja-sama)
- Name (Romanized): Asakusa Jinja (Sanja-sama)
- Type: Shinto shrine adjacent to Sensō-ji
- Location: Asakusa 2-chōme, Taitō Ward, Tokyo — directly to the right of Sensō-ji's main hall
- Date received: 令和六年五月二十日 = 20 May 2024
Reading the goshuin
| Element | Reading | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 奉拝 浅草神社 (tensho) | "Humbly worshipped — Asakusa Jinja" | Top right, red rectangle |
| 浅草神社 | Asakusa Jinja — shrine name | Center, large brush |
| 三 in a circle | Sanja-mon — the shrine's three-shrine emblem | Center, red round seal with diamond pattern |
| 浅草神社 (tensho) | Shrine name in seal script | Bottom-left red square seal |
| 令和六年五月二十日 | 20 May 2024 | Left column, brush |
About the shrine
Asakusa Jinja sits immediately adjacent to Sensō-ji (the famous Buddhist temple — see entry 14) and is its tutelary shrine. The two are separate religious institutions (Shinto vs Buddhist), but they share the Asakusa precinct and are visited together by virtually all visitors. The shrine is popularly called 三社様 (Sanja-sama) or 三社さん (Sanja-san) because it enshrines three principal deities, all related to Sensō-ji's founding story.
The founding story — three Asakusa fishermen
According to legend, on 17 March 628 CE, two fishermen brothers — 檜前浜成 (Hinokuma no Hamanari) and 檜前竹成 (Hinokuma no Takenari) — were fishing in the Sumida River when they pulled up a small golden statue of Kannon (観音 / Avalokiteshvara) in their net. They threw it back several times but kept pulling it up, so they took it to their village headman 土師中知 (Hajino Nakatomo), who recognized it as a sacred Kannon image and built a small shrine to enshrine it. That shrine grew into Sensō-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo.
Asakusa Jinja was founded later to enshrine the three men themselves — the two fishermen brothers and the headman who recognized the Kannon — as protective deities of the area. The "three" in the shrine's name 三社 (Sanja) refers to these three men.
Enshrined deities
- 土師真中知命 (Hajino Manakachi-no-Mikoto) — the village headman
- 檜前浜成命 (Hinokuma Hamanari-no-Mikoto) — fisherman brother
- 檜前竹成命 (Hinokuma Takenari-no-Mikoto) — fisherman brother
These are essentially deified historical (or legendary-historical) commoners — unusual for a Shinto shrine, where deities are typically mythological figures, emperors, or famous warriors. Asakusa Jinja's three-fisherman pantheon reflects the working-class, downtown character of historical Asakusa.
What the shrine is known for
三社祭 (Sanja Matsuri) — Asakusa's biggest festival
Asakusa Jinja's annual 三社祭 (Sanja Matsuri) is held on the third weekend of May every year and is one of Tokyo's three great Shinto festivals (alongside Kanda Matsuri and Sannō Matsuri). The 2024 Sanja Matsuri ran from 17–19 May 2024.
The user received this goshuin on 20 May 2024 — the day after the Sanja Matsuri ended. The shrine is typically still buzzing from the festival energy, and many goshuin collectors visit just after the festival to receive post-festival commemorative goshuin (some shrines issue special editions during/right after the Sanja).
Survived the 1945 firebombing intact
While much of Asakusa was destroyed in the March 1945 Tokyo air raid, Asakusa Jinja's buildings survived almost intact — making them some of Tokyo's most important pre-war wooden shrine buildings. The current main hall (拝殿) and other structures date from 1649 and are designated Important Cultural Properties. (The adjacent Sensō-ji's main hall, by contrast, was destroyed and rebuilt postwar.)
What the blessing carries
- 商売繁盛 (shōbai hanjō) — business prosperity (Asakusa is a commercial district; the deities historically protected local merchants)
- 家内安全 (kanai anzen) — household safety
- 災難除け (sainan-yoke) — protection from disasters (the shrine survived the firebombing, reinforcing its protective reputation)
- General community blessing — as the tutelary shrine of historical Asakusa
The Asakusa one-day visit pattern
This goshuin is the first of seven goshuin in this book all dated 20 May 2024, all within the Asakusa-Akihabara-Taitō area. The user spent the day doing the 浅草名所七福神 (Asakusa Famous Sites Seven Lucky Gods Pilgrimage) with side visits to associated shrines and temples:
| Entry | Site | Sub-temple/seal |
|---|---|---|
| 11 (this) | 浅草神社 | Standard goshuin |
| 12 | 被官稲荷神社 | Sub-shrine of Asakusa Jinja |
| 13 | 浅草神社 — 恵比須 (Ebisu) | Asakusa Shichifukujin pilgrimage variant |
| 14 | 浅草寺 | Standard goshuin |
| 15 | 浅草寺 — 大黒天 | Asakusa Shichifukujin pilgrimage variant |
| 16 | 矢先稲荷神社 — 福禄寿 | Asakusa Shichifukujin pilgrimage variant |
| 17 | 隆栄稲荷神社 (within 下谷神社) | Inari sub-shrine |
| 18 | 神田神社 (Kanda Myōjin) | Standard goshuin |
This is one of the most thorough single-day Tokyo religious itineraries in this entire goshuincho collection — eight stamps in a day.