Shrine Strolls from Now On, Part 10: Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Shrine

When I checked the weather forecast during a rainy period, it said the next day would be sunny with occasional clouds.
I suddenly thought, 'That's it! Tomorrow I'll go to Hikawa Shrine in Omiya, which I've been wanting to visit for a while!'

I got on the train without thinking, but then it occurred to me, 'Wait, is Omiya Station actually the closest station?' I searched on my smartphone while on the train and found it was a little over a 20-minute walk from Omiya Station.
It's not impossible to walk, but it's only about a 10-minute walk from Kita-Omiya Station, which is one stop away if you transfer from the JR line to the Tobu line.
Since it was a somewhat hot day, I decided to get off at Kita-Omiya Station.

The shrine is located inside Omiya Park, past a residential area, and it has a large premise with several entrances.
If you come from Kita-Omiya Station, you enter from the direction of the Hebi-no-Ike (Snake Pond) (even if you come by car, the parking lot is on this side), but I think it's better to enter from the Third Torii gate.

The enshrined deities are Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Inadahime-no-Mikoto, and Oonamuchi-no-Mikoto.
I've recently come to understand that with this group, the main blessing is for matchmaking.

There is a chozuya (water pavilion) decorated with flowers, which is trendy lately, but since the water wasn't flowing, I felt a bit hesitant to rinse my mouth with standing water (the temperature is rising, after all), so I just washed my hands lightly.

Perhaps because the timing was good, there were few visitors.
Recently, the situation in the world has been quite uncertain, so I prayed for the future peace of Japan.

Someone was placing their hands on a large tree right after entering the Romon gate, so maybe there is some kind of blessing.
I've heard that 'placing your hands on a tree can damage the trunk (perhaps because you might step on the roots),' so I try not to do it much.
I think it's fine for everyone to decide for themselves on that matter.

There was an Isonokami Shrine as a sub-shrine, so I prayed that my wishes would reach my parents' home in Nara.
(Though I've never been to Isonokami Shrine in Nara)

When I drew an omikuji fortune, it said, 'Visit the Inari Shrine,' so I went there as well.

It was the same with the Snake Pond, but I had the impression that many people were praying very earnestly.
There were people with dogs and strollers, so maybe they were locals?
It might have been because it was a weekday.

Since I was there, I also took a little walk around Omiya Park.
It is a very large park.

While walking, I saw a sign that said 'Amusement Park/Zoo'.
Wow! I have to go check that out!

It feels like... a park with airplane rides.
The airplanes don't seem to be operating today.

There are a lot of birds.
I'm not very good with birds, so I watched from a bit of a distance.
The squirrel monkeys were cute.

It might be fun if you have small children with you.
There were also some high school couples.

Bonus.
A crow that slipped on the paving stones in the shrine grounds.