In 1648 the shrine's parish (ujichi) was defined as 36 neighborhoods in what was then Uchigome, now part of Shinjuku. The following year  the main hall was rebuilt and this was followed by the construction of several new buildings, some quite extravagant, so many in fact that on their completion the 8,8002 m+ shrine grounds were described as closely packed (櫛比, shippi ) and with continuing Tokugawa patronage the shrine soon became one of the most important in Edo. In 1703 a splendid new main hall was built, only to be burnt down in 1854. By this time the Bakufu was facing many problems and with the country in the grip of high inflation the best that could be done was the cobbling together of a temporary main hall. It was not until the beginning of the Showa Period (1926) that a new one, modeled on traditional designs, was opened amid much fanfare. Almost needless to say this was destroyed during the early 1945 fire bombings. A temporary structure was again erected, and in 1989 work on a complete reconstruction was started. It was essentially finished by 1998.

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Description

Three minutes on foot from Waseda Station. There is a lot to see in this shrine, and there is a small, manicured park in its grounds. One of its most interesting, and least garish points, is the Jimmu Tennō yōhai-jo (神武天皇遥拝所), literally the "place where Emperor Jimmu (the legendary first Emperor) can be worshipped from afar". The site points to the southwest to Kashigahara-Gū in Nara, which is said to be built on the spot where Emperor Jimmu ascended to the throne in 660 BC.  While not quite as old as Emperor Jimmu the pair of komainu on the site, dating to 1755, are venerable in their own right..