Hanazono Shrine

This shrine has watched over the Shinjuku district since before the city grew around it, long serving as the guardian of the area's merchants and entertainers. Rebuilt in bright vermilion after wartime destruction, it hosts a lively November fair famous for its rakes decorated with symbols of good fortune, bought each year to invite prosperity. A subsidiary shrine draws performers and those in the arts. Surrounded by the neon of one of the world's busiest entertainment quarters, its red gates offer an abrupt change of pace.