Kadode Hachimangu Shrine

This small shrine in Kyoto is a place for travelers to pray before setting out, and its paper safety amulets are popular with those heading on long journeys. Its connection to safe travel comes from Minamoto no Yoshitsune. At 16, fleeing rivals after his father was killed by the Taira clan, Yoshitsune prayed for divine protection at the merchant estate that once stood on this site before departing north to find shelter with the Fujiwara clan in Hiraizumi. His prayers held: a decade later, Yoshitsune led the Minamoto to crush the Taira in 1185, ending a five-year war and establishing the Kamakura shogunate, Japan's first warrior-led government.