Inokashira Benzaiten

井の頭弁財天（いのかしらべんざいてん / Inokashira Benzaiten）

The Benzaiten shrine beside Inokashira Pond, part of the Tendai temple Daiseiji.

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Inokashira Benzaiten stands beside Inokashira Pond and belongs to Daiseiji, a temple of the Tendai school of Buddhism. According to tradition, Minamoto no Tsunemoto enshrined an image of the goddess Benzaiten here during the Tengyo era of the Heian period. In the Edo period, Inokashira Pond was chosen as the water source for Edo's water supply.

The Benzaiten image is shown to the public once every 12 years, in the Year of the Snake (a ceremony called gokaicho). The most recent viewing was in April 2025, and the next will be in 2037. At the entrance to the approach, a stone pillar is carved with an inscription that refers to the source of the Kanda water supply.

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