2 Best Sights in Beyond Central Tokyo, Tokyo

Northeast of Kawagoe’s central sightseeing area, this shrine, purportedly founded more than 1,500 years ago, is where people come to pray for love and marital success. If you would like to do so, write a wish on an ema (small wooden votive plaque), and hang it in the outdoor tunnel nearly completely covered in ema. There are also two 600-year-old zelkova trees on the grounds, wedded together by an ornately wound rope. It’s said that walking around these giant trees in a figure-eight pattern grants good fortune.

This shrine in the heart of Monzen-Nakacho has been a core part of Fukagawa since the 1600s. It’s said that some of the earliest sumo tournaments were held here in the 1700s, which explains the sumo-related monuments you'll see. Today, the grounds hold small dawn-to-dusk antiques markets on the first, second, third, and fifth Sundays of each month, while lively flea markets take place on the 15th and 28th of each month. In odd-numbered years, during the month of August, the shrine is also the starting point of Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri, a festival that sees more than 50 portable shrines paraded energetically through the streets while onlookers pour buckets of water over the carriers (and each other). One more quirk here is that you can bring your car to be blessed.