Walk from Daiho-ji to Azabu Juban Shopping Street and you will see Juban Inari Jinja. A distinctive feature of the tour of Minato’s Seven Deities of Good Fortune, this shrine houses the legendary treasure boat that bears the seven deities. It is located right next to one of the exits of the Oedo Subway Line’s Azabu Juban Station, standing as a welcoming entrance to the Azabu Juban area. A stone image of the treasure boat stands to the left of the torii; on the right is a stone sculpture of parent and child frogs, representing the “Gamaike Legend,” said to protect against burns and fire. According to the legend, a giant frog appeared suddenly out of an old pond spouting water to extinguish the raging flames; since then, the frog is said to protect against fire. In recent years, the frogs have also gained popularity among younger people because the Japanese word for frog, “kaeru,” has the same pronunciation as the word for return: waka-gaeru (return of youth), shiawase-gaeru (return of happiness), otoshimono-kaeru (return of lost items), nandemo-kaeru (return of anything).

caption