Costumes-Inari Shrine

"About a thousand years ago、The area around this area is full of fields and fields, and there is a large tree of celtis sinensis in it, and it is this costume Inari that was worshiped as a company of Prince Inari by building a company there.
According to what is said to be the rise of this company name, every year on the night of New Year's Eve in December, the messengers of Inari from eight countries in the Kanto region gather at this company to dress up and visit Prince Inari of Kanto Souji. It is said that the peasants at that time forgot the fertility of the crops of the following year by the amount of fox fire burning during the procession. Hiroshige St. Ando, ​​a painting from the Edo period, also left this costume Inari as an ukiyo-e.
After that, in the middle of the Meiji era, the large tree of Enoki died and its residence became the current Oji 2-chome stop due to the development of the land, and the company was moved to the eastern part.
It is a famous fact that the fire that spread from the southeast with a fierce force during the air raid on April 13, 1945 was completely stopped here and the residents of the northwestern region were saved from the fire.
This spiritual test was so poor that the shrine was built and the local volunteers started to see the current shrine with the cooperation of many believers.
This costume Inari raises the reverence of believers not only as the guardian deity of business prosperity, but also as a god of fire protection without being inconvenienced by devout people.
From the information board in the precincts of "Shozoku Inari Supporters' Association" on December 1954

《Prince's fox fire and costume envy》
"Once upon a time, this area was a field、A tree of celtis towered in it。
New Year's Eve every year、Because there is a saying that foxes gathered from all over the Kanto region visited Oji Inari Shrine again under this envy.、The tree was called celtis sinensis。By the fox fire that the foxes light、It seems that the locals forgot about the fertility of the fields the following year.。
The people of Edo、As a god of prosperous business, he deeply believes in Inari.、Visits to Oji Inari Shrine were also popular.。Eventually、Along with the name of Oji Inari Shrine, the prince's fox fire and costume envy became widely known.、It became the subject of Nishiki-e like the picture drawn by Hiroshige.。
Showa 4 (1929)、Costume Enoki was cut down when the road was expanded、The costume envy monument has been moved to the current location。later、In commemoration of this envy, the costume Inari Shrine was established.。From 1993、Trying to recreate the story of the prince's fox fire、By the locals、Prince "Fox Procession" has started。Every year at midnight from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day、People in fox masks wearing fox masks、A scene of parading along the path from Shozoku Inari to Oji Inari with a musical accompaniment is unfolded.。
March 1997, from the information board in the precincts of the Kita-ku, Tokyo Board of Education