the only shrine where he is still worshipped and it is the only shrine of this name in Japan.

Kiōkongen is credited with the "reigen" (miraculous efficacy) of curing all kinds of illnesses starting with skin rashes and tumours.  Until the beginning of the Meiji Period there were apparently a number of tofu (beancurd) dealers clustered around the entrances to the shrine selling tofu to people looking for cures. The sufferer would buy the tofu, dedicate it to the shrine, and it was thought that if he or she continued to stroke the affected parts of their bodies with the dedicated tofu for as long as it took a cure would certainly be effected. This practice was known as "nade mamori."  In 1894 the deity of a Sengen JInja which had along existed in the areas was jointly enshrined with Inari Kiō but in 1930 the deities were separated and Sengen Jinja was set up as an in-ground shrine of Inari Kiō Jinja.

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Description

About 150m from the A1 exit of Higashi-shinjuku Station. The "ki (鬼)" in Kiō literally means ogre/demon and this has led to speculation that the deity being worshipped at the shrine is in fact the Devil, speculation which almost certainly should be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. Nevertheless, it is true that one significant change has been made to the Setsubun ritual as performed at this shrine; the commonly accepted cry of "Ogres Out! Good Luck In!" becomes "Good Luck In! Ogres In!" Presumably it would be tempting fate to try to cast out the jinja's enshrined deity.

Of the two in-ground shrines, Ebisu Jinja is one of the stops on the Shinjuku Shichifukujin circuit, while the other, Sangen Jinja, sits atop a Fujizuka. The mound was built in 1842 and is a relatively modest 2m in height. It seems that during the WWII firebombing the mound's foundation stones were destroyed and it was effectively split into two; it remains so to this day.