Atago Shrine: Climbing the Corporate Ladder
For new Tokyo college grads or upwardly mobile corporate climbers, the steps to success are literally. carved in stone.
Copyright 2022 by Gail Nakada
At Atago Shrine, the steps to career success are just that – steps. Lots and lots of them climbing practically perpendicular from the street to the shrine atop Atago hill. Though this slope is named 'Otoko Zaka', literally 'Man Hill', the steps themselves are the 'Shussei no Ishiden', 'Stone Steps to Success'.
The legend is that a young Samurai rode his horse straight up this impossible incline to deliver a beautiful plum branch to the Shogun. Samurai were touchy-feely about things like flowers when they weren't slicing and dicing each other and the odd peasant. The Shogun was so impressed that the young Samurai's future was assured. No mention of the horse who actually did all the work but those are the breaks when you're not at the top of the food chain. (Though there is a wooden cut-out of the samurai and his horse that you can stick your face through for a photo-op. Who wants to be the horse, you have to wonder.)
The story is actually documented at the shrine (in English and Japanese) and corporate climbers take it very seriously. Coming here before starting those all-important job interviews prior to graduation is a right of passage for many young Japanese.
This is not just a one time visit. Though Hie Jinja in Akasaka is one of the most popular 'business luck' shrines among companies and corporations of every size, Atago is important to an individual's continued success.
People of every age in somber suits and carrying briefcases haul themselves panting to the top of the stairs and then proceed through the little red Torii gate to this simple Shinto shrine. There they bow, asking for divine help from that big board of directors in the sky.
Incongruously, yet oh-so-Tokyo, there's a charming Italian Bistro right on the grounds of the shrine. On a fine day, their terrace tables make a great place to celebrate future success or that special promotion with a glass of sparkling wine. Or maybe just to catch your breath.
The stone steps definitely put the 'physical' in metaphysical. Atago was built in 1603 by order of super-Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu whose legacy lasted centuries. It was the highest point in the old city and also served as a fire lookout. If you want to follow in his footsteps, quite literally, take a deep breath and go for it. Walk on the left or right. The center of the steps is reserved for the gods.
Although Atago doesn't target the IT crowd like Kanda Myojin, the Shrine does have an online Omikuji (fortune telling) page on their website for believers to try their luck before that big sales meeting/interview. Though only in Japanese, it's easy to figure out.
Go to this url: http://www.atago-jinja.com/
Press the red button.
Your luck for the day will be Sho, Chu or Dai, 'small', 'middle' and 'big'.
Just remember, even a little luck can go a very long way to furthering your career and your health if you climb these stairs often enough!
Japanese website: http://www.atago-jinja.com/
Access: 5 min. from Onarimon Station which also has a lot of steps unless you find the escalators. At Excelsior Coffee shop,bear to the right, keep the park across the street on your left. Turn right at the next corner, walk past the Atago Green Hills complex. You need to get on that side of the street. Just before the Atago Tokyu Inn is the entrance to the stone steps. Shrines are seldom user-friendly to the disabled, but there is an elevator up to the top of the hill. The elevator is next to the tunnel just beyond the Atago Green Hills complex, ten or twenty yards before the entrance to the steps. The sign is in English.
For new Tokyo college grads or upwardly mobile corporate climbers, the steps to success are literally. carved in stone.
Copyright 2022 by Gail Nakada
At Atago Shrine, the steps to career success are just that – steps. Lots and lots of them climbing practically perpendicular from the street to the shrine atop Atago hill. Though this slope is named 'Otoko Zaka', literally 'Man Hill', the steps themselves are the 'Shussei no Ishiden', 'Stone Steps to Success'.
The legend is that a young Samurai rode his horse straight up this impossible incline to deliver a beautiful plum branch to the Shogun. Samurai were touchy-feely about things like flowers when they weren't slicing and dicing each other and the odd peasant. The Shogun was so impressed that the young Samurai's future was assured. No mention of the horse who actually did all the work but those are the breaks when you're not at the top of the food chain. (Though there is a wooden cut-out of the samurai and his horse that you can stick your face through for a photo-op. Who wants to be the horse, you have to wonder.)
The story is actually documented at the shrine (in English and Japanese) and corporate climbers take it very seriously. Coming here before starting those all-important job interviews prior to graduation is a right of passage for many young Japanese.
This is not just a one time visit. Though Hie Jinja in Akasaka is one of the most popular 'business luck' shrines among companies and corporations of every size, Atago is important to an individual's continued success.
People of every age in somber suits and carrying briefcases haul themselves panting to the top of the stairs and then proceed through the little red Torii gate to this simple Shinto shrine. There they bow, asking for divine help from that big board of directors in the sky.
Incongruously, yet oh-so-Tokyo, there's a charming Italian Bistro right on the grounds of the shrine. On a fine day, their terrace tables make a great place to celebrate future success or that special promotion with a glass of sparkling wine. Or maybe just to catch your breath.
The stone steps definitely put the 'physical' in metaphysical. Atago was built in 1603 by order of super-Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu whose legacy lasted centuries. It was the highest point in the old city and also served as a fire lookout. If you want to follow in his footsteps, quite literally, take a deep breath and go for it. Walk on the left or right. The center of the steps is reserved for the gods.
Although Atago doesn't target the IT crowd like Kanda Myojin, the Shrine does have an online Omikuji (fortune telling) page on their website for believers to try their luck before that big sales meeting/interview. Though only in Japanese, it's easy to figure out.
Go to this url: http://www.atago-jinja.com/
Press the red button.
Your luck for the day will be Sho, Chu or Dai, 'small', 'middle' and 'big'.
Just remember, even a little luck can go a very long way to furthering your career and your health if you climb these stairs often enough!
Japanese website: http://www.atago-jinja.com/
Access: 5 min. from Onarimon Station which also has a lot of steps unless you find the escalators. At Excelsior Coffee shop,bear to the right, keep the park across the street on your left. Turn right at the next corner, walk past the Atago Green Hills complex. You need to get on that side of the street. Just before the Atago Tokyu Inn is the entrance to the stone steps. Shrines are seldom user-friendly to the disabled, but there is an elevator up to the top of the hill. The elevator is next to the tunnel just beyond the Atago Green Hills complex, ten or twenty yards before the entrance to the steps. The sign is in English.
