Kabuki Benzaiten Shrine in Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo

Kabuki Benzaiten Shrine is a small Japanese Shinto shrine located in Kabukicho Park, right in the heart of Kabukicho, Tokyo’s red light district, on the eastern side of Shinjuku Train Station.

Enshrined within Kabuki Benzaiten Shrine is Benaiten, the Shinto god of music, dancing and thriving business. Right at the front of the shrine is a monument which is inscribed in Japanese ‘In hounour of our everlasting respect for Benzaiten as a neighbourhood guardian’.

You can only see the entrance of Kabuki Benzaiten Shrine, standing within Kabukicho Park. There are a few interesting statues out the front of Kabuki Benzaiten Shrine and the usual water fountain where worshipers can purify themselves before paying their respects at the shrine.

Unfortunately Kabukicho Park is a night hang out place for lots of young people and often the park is littered with rubbish, not a pleasant environment for such a holy ground.