


Shimodani Shrine
下谷神社It is said to have been founded in the second year of Tenpei (730) in Oshigaoka in Ueno. In the fourth year of Kanei (1627), it was moved to Yamashita for the construction of Kaneiji Temple (around the current Iwakura High School). However, the land was small, and in the eighth year of Enpo (1680), it was moved to the south side of Kotokuji-mae Street (present-day Asakusa Street) (near the current location). Samurai mansions and tenement houses were lined up around it.
The head office was widely worshipped as the guardian of Shimodani, and was called "Shimodani Inarisha" and "Shimotani Sosha". The place name Inari-cho is also derived from the head office. In the Edo period, book openings and puppet shows were held, and a grand procession was seen at the time of the festival.
The name was changed to "Shimodani Shrine" in 1872. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was relocated to its current location about 50 meters to the southeast due to the rezoning in 1928. In the newly built worship hall, a ceiling painting of a cloud dragon diagram was painted by Yokoyama Taikan, a master of Japan painting who lived in Ikenohata (Heisei 12, Taito Ward Tangible Cultural Property).