There are hundreds of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Tokyo, but the ones you hear the most about are Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa and Meiji-jingu in Shibuya. If Meiji-jingu is the Marcia Brady of shrines and Senso-ji is the Cindy Brady of temples, then Nezu Shrine is definitely poor, overlooked Jan Brady. "Meiji! Meiji! Meiji!" Personally I had never heard of Nezu before.
My husband and I only discovered this somewhat hidden shrine on a random walk we took from Ueno Park to Yanaka Ginza. The first thing we noticed was how tranquil the grounds were compared to Marcia and Cindy, I mean, Meiji-jingu and Senso-ji. Apparently, spring brings an explosion of azaleas, but we mostly missed it. Much like when Jan missed making the final cut during cheerleader tryouts.
The shrine's history dates back 19 centuries and has remained relatively intact through earthquakes, world wars, and climate change. They have quite an extensive tunnel of vermillion torii gates. Not as impressive as Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, but it still made for a prime Instagram moment as did all the stone statues of foxes serving as protectors of the shrine and messengers of prosperity. So I guess the foxes would be like the guardians of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour. Say what?
I was there early in the morning and it was mildly raining. It’s easily accessible via bus and at a walkable distance from Ueno. There were very few people early in the morning and this place is easily one of the most underrated spots for tourists. It’s beautiful throughout and extremely well maintained.
Beautiful shrine during the azaleas 🌺 season (end of April beginning of may) but very overcrowded… Go there very early in the morning (when it opens). I also got the Goshuin (500¥ for the stamp) but they only gave the printed version out so I’m kind of disappointed 😞 There are a lot of food stalls on site so you can also eat there if you want. I didn’t pay to walk through the Azalea Garden and still got really nice pictures, plus the queue is way to long.
Taken today 4/27/2025 around 9:30AM (garden opening time) Lines get soooo long and it was crazy crowded just before opening. So better go by 9 or before and start queuing. We got there at 8:30 (didn’t know the gardens opened at 9:30) but we were in front of the line which was great cause we could get out sooner.
A 5min walk from Nezu Station
Entrance fee: ¥500 😬😬
Very peaceful and poetic place.
The flowers hill is amazingly pretty under the sun.
The shrine is nice and very suitable for content creators.
No ticket is needed and it's quite accessible.
