Hotokusan Inari Taisha

Hotokusan Inari Taisha rises above a wooded hillside outside Nagaoka, its black roofs visible from a distance. The main structures are built from concrete rather than wood, to withstand heavy winter snowfall and earthquakes. A small stone shrine at the hilltop predates the earliest written records of the site from around 1,500 years ago. An annual night festival uses between 50,000 and 60,000 red candles for its main ritual. Inside the main building, visitors follow a five-candle prayer ritual in sequence, green, red, yellow, white, and purple, each linked to a different area of daily life. Entry is free. The shrine is a 10-minute walk from Echigo-Iwatsuka Station on the Shinetsu Line.