Small And Right In The Middle Of Urbanity

Walking after exiting the very busy Keikyu Yokosuka Chuo train station, and only a few blocks away I came across a small shrine, sandwiched between a busy road and a large parking lot .... a tiny bit of green serenity in the middle of all the concrete .... even with a tree loaded with Japanese みかん "mikan" citrus fruit...

     

Multiple vermilion-colored 鳥居 "torii" gates .... Inari shrines typically have many torii because those who have been successful in business often donate in gratitude a torii to Inari, kami of fertility and industry .... so I walked inside to pay respects...

The wash basin for ritual cleansing before approaching the altar .... marked with the characters 奉納 "Ho-no", meaning to make an offering or dedication...

     

I later talked to a local historian who said that in the old days, there were many large gas and fuel tanks situated in what is now the adjacent parking lot, and the regional headquarters building of Tokyo Gas Company (owner of the tanks) is still located close-by .... The small shrine was likely built to pray for safe operations in handling the gas .... and has remained in place while everything else around it transformed...