Namba Yasaka Shrine
Osaka Travel Packages
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"A giant open-mouthed lion head serves as the stage at this small shrine near Namba"
Namba Yasaka, Osaka Overview
The stage at Namba Yasaka Shrine is a giant lion's head with its mouth wide open, built in May 1974 and housing the fierce aspect of Susanoo no Mikoto. It stands in a compact precinct a short walk south west of Namba station, and it is the reason the shrine appears on itineraries at all. The institution behind it is old: recorded as a Gozu Tenno sanctuary by the 1070s and long the tutelary shrine of the Namba district, with halls rebuilt after the Osaka air raids of March 1945.
Fifteen minutes covers the visit, which is what makes it a good pairing with Dotonbori and Kuromon market rather than a destination in itself. Susanoo is enshrined here with Kushinadahime, and the shrine older name, Namba Shimomiya, still turns up in local writing. Recorded opening is 6:00 to 17:00, so the lion is best photographed early, before the Namba crowds and with the light on its face. The precinct is small and residential, and the surrounding streets give a quieter reading of Namba than the arcades two blocks north.
