After Suga Shrine: Visit Washinomiya Next
Shrine Guide · 3 min read
Published July 16, 2026
After Suga Shrine, Washinomiya Shrine is the anime pilgrimage that should be next on your list. Suga's red-railed staircase gives you an instantly recognizable Your Name frame; Washinomiya gives you the larger story of anime tourism — a real shrine, a small community, and fans who kept returning long after Lucky☆Star finished airing.
This is not a claim that Washinomiya is Japan's “second most visited” anime shrine; no reliable national ranking exists. It is a stronger reason to go: Washinomiya is one of the best-documented examples of seichi junrei becoming a lasting relationship between fans and a town.
Why Washinomiya matters to anime pilgrimage
In Lucky☆Star, Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi help at the fictional Takanomiya Shrine. The anime's shrine was modeled on Washinomiya Shrine in Kuki, Saitama, and the torii and surrounding streets became a destination soon after the series aired in 2007.
The reaction was far bigger than a few frame-matching photos. KADOKAWA records that an official late-2007 event drew about 3,500 fans, while the shrine received 300,000 New Year visitors in 2008 — 170,000 above its previous average. Local businesses, fans, the shrine, and the rights holders then built events and products together instead of treating the attention as a one-season novelty.
That community response is why Washinomiya belongs near the beginning of any serious anime pilgrimage education. It helped establish the model later towns would follow: welcome fans, protect the place, give visitors reasons to support local businesses, and let the relationship grow over time.
What you will actually see
Washinomiya is a working Shinto shrine first. Anime fans will recognize the approach and the setting associated with the Hiiragi sisters, but the most revealing detail is often the ema — wooden prayer plaques, many carrying carefully drawn Lucky☆Star characters alongside ordinary prayers.
Japan's national tourism organization describes Washinomiya as one of Saitama's most visited Lucky☆Star locations and notes that fans continue to visit for hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the New Year. The point is not a preserved theme park. It is the coexistence of an old religious site, everyday local worship, and fan-made visual culture.
Start with the Lucky☆Star real-life locations in Anime Itinerary, then use the explore map to see how the shrine fits into a wider Saitama day.
Suga Shrine or Washinomiya: which should you choose?
Choose Suga Shrine when you want a quick Tokyo stop, the famous staircase angle, and a location that fits naturally between Shinjuku and Yotsuya. Choose Washinomiya Shrine when you want a deliberate day trip and a place that explains why modern anime pilgrimage became a form of local tourism.
If your trip has room for both, the order makes sense: take the iconic photo at Suga, then go to Washinomiya to understand the culture behind the photo.
How to plan the Washinomiya day trip
The Japan National Tourism Organization places Washinomiya a little over an hour from central Tokyo by rail, changing at Kuki for Washinomiya Station. Treat that as a planning estimate rather than a guaranteed journey time; check the day's service before leaving.
Do not squeeze the shrine between unrelated Tokyo bookings. Give the town time, visit quietly, look for local Lucky☆Star displays without entering private property, and spend with nearby businesses when they are open. If you are combining it with other Saitama locations, save your stops first and build the day around the rail route, not around the order scenes appeared on screen.