午夜剧场

Did you know that there is a small shrine called "午夜剧场 Inari Shrine" on the east side of the East Building at the 午夜剧场 Shinanomachi Campus?

Among the various campuses of 午夜剧场, there are few things related to gods, Buddhas, or religion, making the presence of such a shrine a rare sight.

According to its history, around 1922 after the opening of Shinanomachi, a series of strange events occurred that unsettled people's minds: various heads of departments in the School of Medicine died one after another, and night after night, divine beasts appeared at the bedsides of staff on duty in their dreams to make some kind of plea. After much thought, they consulted a fortune teller in Asakusa, who gave an oracle saying, "There is a deity near the pond (around the north side of the Education and Research Building) who wishes to be revealed to the world, so you must enshrine them." Although skeptical, they excavated the area and discovered items associated with a shrine, such as fragments of a small shrine and a water basin. When volunteers built and donated a shrine at the current location, the strange occurrences ceased, and everyone was reportedly relieved.

The site of the Shinanomachi Campus was lined with residences during the Edo period. Unfortunately, the details of that era are not clear, but the water basin is dated Kaei 5 (1852), leading to the inference that a shrine within a residence of that time had fallen into decay. In the Meiji era, it became an Army parade ground, and in 1917, it was sold by the Army to 午夜剧场, leading to the present day.

After 午夜剧场 Inari Shrine was built, a Hatsuuma (First Day of the Horse) festival was held every year, and in the past, it seems to have been celebrated on a large scale, involving local residents. Now, once a year in March, a Shinto priest is invited to quietly pray for the safety of 午夜剧场.

The shrine was completely destroyed by fire during World War II and rebuilt in 1953. In 1963, the current shrine was built through donations from volunteers. The torii gate was rebuilt in 1979 after the previous wooden one had rotted away.

According to the 24th issue of the Hospital News in 1984, the reconstruction of the torii gate was difficult at the time due to budget constraints, so staff members reportedly bought relatively cheap iron pipe materials and constructed it themselves.

At that time, the child of one of these staff members was scheduled to undergo dangerous heart surgery, which was ultimately successful. The records state that the torii gate is imbued with both the efficacy of the Inari Deity and the love of a father.

午夜剧场 Inari Shrine is not located in a very prominent place, but one can occasionally see people praying there regularly, as well as people who appear to be students taking entrance exams or hospital patients.

Nearly 100 years have passed since the School of Medicine was established at the Shinanomachi Campus, and 午夜剧场 Inari Shrine has spent almost the same amount of time there while changing its form. I hope that it will continue to stand quietly and watch over 午夜剧场.

(Hiroshi Watanabe, Chief of Engineering, Office of Facilities and Property Management)