Tsuki-jinja Shrine

When you adventure around to the various shrines and temples scattered throughout Japan, you may notice statues and reliefs of dragons, demons, and mythical beings of all sorts. But, have you ever seen a rabbit? Tsuki-jinja Shrine in Urawa has an interesting theme in that many of the statues around the shrine are rabbits!

There’s a reason behind this mythology, and it has to do with the moon! First of all, let’s understand that the word for moon is tsuki in Japanese. Although the “kanji” character is different, the pronunciation is the same for tsuki as in the moon, and the name of this shrine: Tsuki-jinja.

Next, we all know of various characters and stories involved the moon; let’s say the “man” in the moon in North America or the “toad” in the moon in the Pacific Northwest. Japan, and other nearby nations, have long seen a “rabbit” in the moon. As the name for the moon in Japanese is “tsuki”, and the name of the shrine is Tsuki-jinja, the shrine pays tribute to this wordplay by having rabbit statues all over the shrine grounds. In Urawa, the “rabbit in the moon” has become the “rabbit in the shrine”!

With a cool park nearby, this shrine should definitely be on your map as a strolling destination. Put a rabbit’s spring in your step and come over here to Tsuki-jinja. In the West, a “rabbit’s foot” has been a symbol of good luck, so hopefully, a visit to Tsuki-jinja makes your Japan trip filled with fortune.