Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine

We visited this shrine on our first day's excursion in Tokyo. This was our very first stop. I love the quite, peaceful location in the forest and enjoyed walking amongst the tall, green trees. The grounds are well kept and there were plenty of parking spots available. The were a few other shrines in the vicinity and we explored them all. This shrine is believed to be used for worshippers of Mt Fuji and deemed as a sacred place.

We discovered the shrine totally by accident, without realizing its significance as a holy site and a spiritual trailhead for pilgrims looking to ascend Mount Fuji. We saw a wide woodland path from the road and decided to park up and go down it. After maybe 200 yd, we came to a peaceful stream, a bridge, and a huge wooden gate leading to the shrine complex. The gate is the largest of its kind in all of Japan. The shrine is still very active, there were people here praying and paying their respects- both employees and visitors. All the structures throughout the shrine had informative plaques in Japanese and English explaining the significance and how to properly pray here. Sometimes you visit somewhere and you can just feel the significance in the air, and this is one of those places. We were able to wander around the entire place at no charge.

If only I would check that this is beginning of Yoshida trail… I would start my journey from Shrine, instead 2 days before we started from Subaru 5th station. shrine is lovely place surrounded by old cedar trees. Very refreshing in hot summer day.

We chose this location on a day trip through the Fuji area because of the peaceful beauty of all the surrounding trees. It was very calm with a feeling of being a special place in nature. It's a less busy spot and less about seeing Fuji at this location. There are shrines and statues to view too but our favorite part was the nature. If you love a beautiful secluded nature spot then this is a great place for you to visit! If your main motivation is to see Fuji or just shrines then this may not be your favorite location.

Very beautiful Shrine. The 1000 years old tree are so awesome. It will be even more beautiful on Autumn when it turn all the leaf in yellow. It took me 1 hour walk from Shimoyoshida Station but enjoy the journey very much. The shrine are quite and peaceful. Highly recommended.

Our tour guide recommend this spot. Less crowded then other tourists spots. Not worth going out of your way for. Nice for aome pictures, but other shrines look similar. Make a wish before you leave.

The tranquility is felt in this temple area. The trees are incredibly large. Some of the smaller temples have been restored beautifully. Love to spend more time sitting in the grounds. Worth a visit to get a feel for the shinto belief system

Beautiful shrine in a shady area. We came on a Saturday and there were 50 or so shops setup in a small market. Free!

We were so glad that we went to the Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine. It was a beautiful and spiritual Shinto shrine complex with wooden structures & stone lanterns lining the paths through the forest. The weather was so much cooler in the Mt. Fuji or Yamanashi area. This shrine was so calming and peaceful. This historic shrine nestled at the base of Mt. Fuji, was started as a small shrine 1900 years ago. We liked the path leading to the main shrine and tall cedar trees shaded it. There are four giant trees surrounding the main shrine believed to be a thousand years old. I highly recommend it! FYI, here's the official website: https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/english/uncover/kitaguchi-hongu-fuji-sengen-shrine.html From Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine "西暦110年に日本武尊が東征の折に立ち寄り、当地より富士山を遙拝されたことから始まった古社。 富士山の入口、富士山信仰の聖地として栄え、江戸時代中期に隆盛を極めた。 当時に建てられた数多くの建造物が現存し、国指定重要文化財に指定されている。 世界文化遺産「富士山」の構成資産のひとつ。"

Wow, 5-stars of beautifulness at this Shinto shrine amongst the huge cedar trees! Thanks to TripAdvisor for finding this serene and lovely place. One of the best shrine complexes we've seen so far. Lots of lovely architecture, buildings, and some decent English-language signage to explain what we were seeing. Not too crowded even on a Sunday afternoon. When in the five-lakes region of Fuji, this has to be a must-see place. Definitely a place I'll bring tourists when they visit.