Hakone Shrine is a Shinto shrine with a history dating back more than 1200 years. The shrine is one of the most famous in the Kanto area and has connections with the legends of dragons, famous samurai, and travelers along the Tokaido Road. The shrine is located in a peaceful forest along the lake and has many red lanterns, gates, and buildings that lend to the peaceful beauty of a visit.
Hakone Shrine has its original origins in the shrines that were found among the mountain tops in Hakone. Mountains were once revered for their life giving qualities as the source of water, respected as a place dangerous for humans, and as a place closer to heaven. These shrines and the spirits spread among the Hakone mountains collectively became enshrined at the top of Mt. Komagatake by the holy priest Mangan in 757. The shrine was later relocated to the present site in 1667. Mangan is credited with founding the shrine and pacifying the nine-headed dragon of Lake Ashi that tormented the villagers of Hakone. Through recitation of sutras Mangan was able to calm the dragon and it is now said to live at the bottom of the lake.
Hakone Shrine became a sanctuary for Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) as he tried to regain control of Japan after being exiled to the Izu peninsula. Minamoto Yoritomo lost one of his first battles and was granted refuge at the Hakone Shrine in 1180. He would later become Shogun and establish his government in the city of Kamakura. The shrine would later become popular with samurai and included visits by the Hojo clan and Tokugawa Ieyasu (founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate). Tokugawa Ieyasu rebuilt the shrine after it was burnt down by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) during the Siege of Odawara Castle in 1591.
The shrine enshrines three “kami”, gods or spirits. These three gods are known as the Great gods of Hakone. Ninigi no Mikoto was sent by the sun goddess, Amaterasu, to pacify Japan. Konohana-sakuya Hime was a blossom princess who was the goddess of volcanoes and represented the delicacy of earthly life. Hoori-no-Mikoto was a son of the two previous gods and was considered an ancestor of Japan’s first emperor.
The shrine is now well known for the large red torii gate located along the shore of Lake Ashi. This shrine gate is known as the “Gate of Peace” (heiwa no torii). The Torii Gate on the lake was erected in 1952 to commemorate the crown prince’s reign and Japan’s independence (conclusion of the peace treaty). In 1964, in commemoration of the 1200th anniversary of the shrine’s establishment and the Tokyo Olympics, a plaque reading “Peace” was raised. The inscription was written by former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who signed the peace treaty with the Allied forces after WWII.
