Ebisu Shrine

Ebisu Shrine (Kōko Jinja) is a shrine in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture that enshrines Ebisu, the deity of business and prosperity. The nearby shopping street was named Ebisu-dori Shopping Street after this shrine, and it remains popular today as "Ebisu-dori." In particular, the festival known as the Kōko Grand Festival has continued to support people for more than 410 years, and despite the atomic bombing it has endured and is treated as an important festival in Hiroshima. Because it is truly located within the shopping street, it is easy to overlook, but it is properly marked with shimenawa sacred straw ropes, and if you pay attention you will find the shrine there. In recent years, with the popularity of goshuin (temple and shrine stamps), it has also become a sightseeing spot popular among young people. As a shrine of commerce, kumade bamboo rakes are especially popular, as they are said to "rake in" good fortune. It is said you start with a small kumade to rake in small luck, buy a medium one the next year to rake in a bit more, then finally a large kumade to rake in big luck, and then return again to a small kumade. To get to Ebisu Shrine, it is a 4-minute walk from the Hiroden streetcar "Ebisucho" stop.