Hearing that Ota-Hime Inari Shrine in Kanda had been newly restored and unveiled, I went to see it. As a locally beloved deity who "heals illness and wards off misfortune," worshippers came without pause, hands pressed together in prayer.
Ota-Hime Inari Shrine, which once stood at Ochanomizu Seibashi, moved to present-day Kanda-Surugadai in 1931 (Showa 6)—more than eighty years ago. The foundation plaque begins with tradition and ancient scrolls attributed to Ono no Takamura, but the last line states that everything was relocated intact for construction of the Sobu Line between Ochanomizu and Ryogoku stations. After burning in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, only the sacred body was barely saved; new shrine buildings, kagura hall, purification font, and portable-shrine storehouse were built in 1928, so the move must have been wrenching.
Yet the Great East Japan Earthquake struck again. The shrine and office had aged, but in the quake the main hall tilted up to 10 cm and the office barely avoided collapse, though it could no longer function. Four parish associations joined forces and somehow achieved reconstruction. From March through September this year, repair work corrected the main hall's tilt and renewed the copper roof. The office was rebuilt and the cracked torii replaced.
Sugawara no Michizane and Tokugawa Ieyasu are enshrined as deities of letters and arms, and of course it is a shrine linked to Edo founder Ota Dokan.
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slight disappointment that day was not seeing the "white fox holding the key that guards Edo Castle's demon gate"＝photo bottom＝. Perhaps it has not been returned yet after repair, or is kept inside the main hall. Usually the key in a fox's mouth at Inari shrines is said to be a granary key, but Ota-Hime's white fox sits on a drum, hind legs raised, holding the key to the demon-gate direction (northeast) of Edo Castle. One theory says Ota-Hime was Dokan's daughter; another that it is another name for this fox—but the shrine history mentions only the story of Dokan's daughter's recovery from illness. I plan to visit again soon to see the white fox. It is only a little over ten minutes from Palaceside Building, and as a deity who "heals illness and wards off misfortune," the blessings seem plentiful.