Last Updated: Jul 28, 2024

Tokyo’s Ono Terusaki Shrine

Backyard Tourism Vol. 15

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium.

One summer, we were having our regular Baemeshi (a media company I set up with Kyodo PR, my former employer) for the month of July with the now-chairman when he mentioned that he had just recently made a pilgrimage to Tokyo’s Ono Terusaki Shrine. Intrigued, I asked him what made this rather unknown spot worth his ever so precious time. Looking excited in a way that I’ve only ever seen him look when he is talking about Instagrammable food, he told me that Ono Terusaki Shrine was a hidden gem with a well-kept secret.

On that note, I’d like to welcome you back to the 15th installment of an ongoing series of articles that I’ve lovingly titled Backyard Tourism. Originally a project that I began in the summer of 2019, the goal of Backyard Tourism is to show how just about everywhere in Japan has potential if its story is done due justice. In fact, in all of my travels across the breadth of the country, I’ve never once found a location that has actually managed to disappoint me.

So, what makes Tokyo’s Ono Terusaki Shrine worth visiting? Well, this small Shinto sanctum has a unique legend associated with it that involves the practice of giving up food. Allegedly, a renowned poet and scholar in the Heian period (794–1185) named Ono-no-Takamura…