Nagoya Shrine Visit Report 2025 Mizuho No.20 Akiba Shirin (Chofukuji)

Akihasha at Chofuku-ji Temple — A Hidden Trace of Shinto–Buddhist Fusion in Mizuho Ward

On December 4, 2025, I was walking through a residential area in Mizuho Ward, Nagoya, on my way to Hakuryu Shrine. Along the way, I noticed a small shrine and a pair of stone guardian dogs standing quietly beside the street. The place did not appear on Google Maps. Normally I focus on visiting Shinto shrines and intentionally skip Buddhist temples, but for some reason I stopped walking there. The atmosphere of that corner felt different.

Later, after checking the area, I learned that this small structure was the Akihasha belonging to Chofuku-ji Temple. The shrine is wooden, its doors locked with a key, and it is structurally integrated into the temple grounds. A Shinto shrine remaining inside a Buddhist temple is rare in today’s Japan, and this configuration is a clear, living example of Shinto–Buddhist syncretism.

I have not visited the main hall of Chofuku-ji itself. However, this encounter with the Akihasha became a turning point that made me look again, more deeply, at the history of religion in Japan.

Shinto and Buddhism — Different Religions That Chose Coexistence

Shinto is Japan’s indigenous belief system, while Buddhism was introduced from the Asian continent in the 6th century. In principle, they are completely different religions. Yet from the 8th century onward, in Japan they did not move toward conflict but toward coexistence and fusion, a process known as Shinto–Buddhist syncretism.

As a result, characteristic religious landscapes were formed all over the country:

• Buddhist temples with Shinto shrines standing inside their precincts
• Shinto shrines that still preserve Buddhist stone towers or sculptural elements
• Mountains revered as sacred spaces where both kami (deities) and Buddhas are worshipped together

According to research:

• 15–30% of Buddhist temples historically contained Shinto shrine structures, and
• more than 40% of Shinto shrines show traces of Buddhist influence.

In other words, in Japan it was not “strange” for a temple and a shrine to exist in the same place. For more than a thousand years, that was simply the normal religious landscape. The Akihasha at Chofuku-ji is one clear example of that culture.

Akihasha and Buddhism — The Fire-Protection Faith

Akihasha shrines worship a deity of fire protection. During the medieval and early modern periods, this fire-prevention faith spread widely through Buddhist monks, especially from Shingon and related traditions. Because of this history, Akihasha developed a very strong connection with Buddhism.

Across Japan, there are many cases where:

• Fire-protection Akihasha are managed by Buddhist temples, and
• temple buildings named Akiba-dera or Akiba-dō serve as centers of the same faith.

The fact that an Akihasha remains within the grounds of Chofuku-ji is, therefore, not an odd exception but a natural outcome of this historical process. It preserves the memory of a time when fire-protection rituals, Buddhist teachings, and local beliefs were not separated but woven together.

Modernization and Shinto–Buddhist Separation — From 1853 to 1868

Japan’s religious landscape changed dramatically in the 19th century. In 1853, Commodore Perry arrived, and Japan entered a period of rapid modernization. This political and social shift also transformed religious policy.

In 1868, the newly established Meiji government issued the Shinto–Buddhist Separation Order. This state policy attempted to break apart a syncretic tradition that had developed over more than 1,200 years. Across Japan, the following changes occurred:

• Shinto shrines located within temple grounds were removed or destroyed
• Buddhist images and stone towers standing at shrines were taken away
• Long-standing blended forms of mountain worship were prohibited
• Movements such as Haibutsu Kishaku (destruction of Buddhism) led to the closing and demolition of many temples

Even so, syncretic structures did not disappear completely. In some places, what was supported by people’s daily lives and local faith quietly remained. The Akihasha at Chofuku-ji is one of these surviving examples — a physical trace of Shinto–Buddhist syncretism that endured beyond official policy.

Historical Timeline

What This Discovery Revealed About Japan’s Religious Culture

This encounter with an unmapped Akihasha made me think again about how Japanese people have historically approached religion. Rather than excluding new beliefs, Japan has often chosen to accept, combine, and adapt them to local life and landscape. The Akihasha at Chofuku-ji is a small but clear expression of that attitude.

In recent years I have been thinking constantly about Japanese stonework — stone lanterns, guardian dogs, torii, and other elements of sacred spaces. As a result, I have gradually developed a kind of intuition for where such things are likely to appear in the landscape. Finding a small shrine that was not even listed on the map did not feel like a random coincidence. It felt like the natural outcome of walking, observing, and paying attention to the “shape” of sacred spaces over time.

For readers outside Japan, this temple–shrine combination is a powerful example of the country’s unique religious identity: a culture in which different traditions coexist, overlap, and quietly continue into the present day.

Key Points at a Glance

• I discovered a small, unmapped shrine and guardian dogs on the way to Hakuryu Shrine in Mizuho Ward, Nagoya.
• Later I learned it was the Akihasha belonging to Chofuku-ji Temple.
• The shrine is wooden, locked, and structurally integrated with the temple grounds.
• This configuration is a typical example of historical Shinto–Buddhist syncretism.
• Akihasha fire-protection faith spread through Buddhist monks and is strongly linked to temple traditions.
• Perry’s arrival in 1853 and the Shinto–Buddhist Separation Order of 1868 form the key modern turning points.
• The Akihasha at Chofuku-ji survives today as a rare trace of that integrated religious world.
• I did not visit the main hall of Chofuku-ji; this article is based on the encounter with the Akihasha and subsequent research.