Musashino Reiwa Jinja

World-renowned architect Kengo Kuma supervised the design of Musashino Reiwa Jinja. While adhering to the architectural style of traditional shrines, it uses metal, a modern architectural material, to construct symbolic Shinto structures and components, such as torii gates and chigi roof finials. Fusing archaic and modern styles, the architecture of the shrine is appropriate for the new imperial era of Reiwa. The two intersecting forked roof finials, one with a vertically cut end symbolizing the male deity and the other with a horizontally cut end symbolizing the female deity, soar silently toward the sky as if to deliver people’s prayers to or receive a revelation from the deity.
Offering sincere prayers to the gods has been embedded in the lives of Japanese people. Prayers are made for a good harvest, prosperity of descendants, and protection from natural disasters and epidemics.
Shrines have been the nexus of community since ancient times and serve as public spaces for prayer to the present.
Musashino Reiwa Jinja is Kengo Kuma’s architecture for prayer.
We believe it has the power to heal people’s hearts and restore the lost light as we transition into life after COVID-19.

Yoshitaka Amano is a person of multiple talents, creating character designs for the world-famous Final Fantasy role-playing game series, as well as book designs and stage art. His perceptive and unique worldview continues to fascinate fans around the world. His ceiling painting at Musashino Reiwa Jinja’s worship hall features phoenixes, the symbol of KADOKAWA.

Since the seventh century, the Japanese wolf has been called “Okuchi no Magami,” meaning “a true god with a large mouth.” Though this subspecies is believed to have become extinct after 1905, it has been spotted and photographed in recent years in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture and on the Sobo Mountain range in Oita Prefecture. The Japanese wolf is associated with Japanese culture, customs, and Shintoism, and has been enshrined at many shrines as deities or as messengers of gods (attendants).

Hideki Togi is a performer of Gagaku, a type of ancient Japanese court music. The Togi family is one of the gakke music families that have passed down the Gagaku tradition for 1,300 years from the Nara period (710–794) to the present. Due to his father’s work, Hideki spent his childhood abroad and grew up influenced by different genres of music, including rock, classical, and jazz. After graduating from high school, he joined the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency. There, he played mainly the hichiriki flute but also the biwa lute, drums, and cello. He also sang and danced. He has performed at court ceremonies and Gagaku concerts held at the Imperial Palace. In addition, he has participated in overseas performances, helping to promote traditional Japanese culture and international friendship. His passions include creating unique music that combines the sounds of Gagaku with piano and synthesizers.

At Musashino Reiwa Jinja, an original Gagaku music composed by Hideki Togi and a miko shrine maiden dance he choreographed are performed and dedicated to the gods. It is a novel performing art that draws on tradition yet suits the new imperial era of Reiwa.