It doesn’t take much convincing to like Tokyo, but after a rainy weekend, what better way to re-ignite my passion than to walk home in a thick blanket of snow.

A steep and slippery climb to the summit of Atago Shrine 愛宕神社  Atago Jinja (map), the pools and fountains unaware of the wintry weather. The NHK museum, proudly sitting astride Mt. Atago, the tallest point in Tokyo’s central 23 wards, yet humbled by its neighboring towers. 

Sneaking down the backside stairs and slipping through Atago tunnel 愛宕隧道 ¹ (which, for the longest time, I have referred to as the Kamiyacho 神谷町 tunnel).  This is perhaps the snowiest night I will ever see in Japan. Glad to be here.

Located near Kamiyacho, Toranomon, and Shiba-Koen.

Views of Mt. Atago 愛宕山 in woodblock prints:

Broadcasting Station at Atagoyama (JOAK), August 1932, by Koizumi Kishio: ²

Mount Atago in Snow, by Utagawa Hiroshige II 二代目 歌川広重 ³ , from “48 Famous Views of Edo” 「江戸名所四十八景　四十　愛宕山雪中」, circa 1860 ⁴

And Atagoyama Shrine – The Staircase of Success, by Ray Morimura 森村玲 ⁵

Mt. Atago 「愛宕やま」 /「 愛宕山」, from “Forty-eight Famous Views of Tokyo”, by Shosai Ikkei 昇斎 一景:^{6 7}

See also:

• Another snowy day in Tokyo 東京の別の雪の日
• Christmas in Tokyo 東京のクリスマス
• Spring in Mount Atago (Haru no Atagoyama), from the series “Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (Tokyo junidai)”, by
  Kawase Hasui
• Taishō jūninen kugatsu hatsuka, Atagoyama nite (At Atagoyama, September 20th 1923) 大正十二年九月廿日愛宕山にて, from the series Taishō shinkasai mokuhangashū (Collection of Woodblock Prints of the Taishō Earthquake)
• Mount Atago in Shiba (Shiba Atagoyama), from the series Famous Places in Edo (Edo meisho) 「江戸名所　芝愛宕山」 (MFA Boston)

Footnotes:

1. Of interest: the Atago Tunnel was used in a scene from the movie Ramen Girl (2008), with Brittany Murphy. ↩︎
2. “100 Views of Great Tokyo in the Shōwa Era”, created between 1928 and 1940 by printmaker Koizumi Kishio 小泉癸巳男 (1893-1945) ↩︎
3. MOUNT ATAGO IN SNOW (Utagawa Hiroshige II) ↩︎
4. No. 40, Mount Atago in Snow (Atago-san setchû), from the series Forty-Eight Famous Views of Edo (Edo meisho yonjûhakkei) (Boston MFA) ↩︎
5. Atagoyama Shrine – The Staircase of Success, by Ray MORIMURA 森村玲 ↩︎
6. Source: “Forty-eight Famous Views of Tokyo”: “Mount Atago” (No. 43) 「東京名所四十八景」 「愛宕やま」「四十三」 ↩︎
7. 東京名所四十八景 愛宕やま Tokyo 48 Famous Places : Atagoyama ↩︎