Had I actually bothered to take a closer look inside this shrine on my previous visit a few years ago it would’ve saved me this extra trip down the coast!

Back in 2021, I made a couple of trips on consecutive days to this spot on the coast but it was only when returning home on the latter that I found out about the interesting phallic portable shrine which is housed inside this fairly nondescript shrine.

Finding the motivation to return to this part of the Izu Peninsula’s east coast in Shizuoka Prefecture has been difficult on my recent trips to the area but as I was awake very early one morning I decided to go and see Dontsuku Shrine and a bit of the surrounding area before being back for breakfast with my wife. It’s about a 20 minute walk on foot south of Izu-Inatori station on the Izu Kyūkō Line and when you look into the shrine hall there is nothing other than a giant wooden willy!

Tokyo Fox is of course no stranger to such phallic temples and shrines, and this was the third time in Shizuoka where I’ve seen private parts in such a place. Click here to read ‘TF Top 10…….Private Part Places in Japan’. 

Some kind of unique festival is held in June each year meaning that I must’ve just missed it as I was there at the end of that month. The shrine is a place people visit to pray for marital harmony, prosperity of descendants, and good health.

The sight of the next picture below makes me wince with displeasure every time I see it as a coin has been inserted (presumably for luck!) into the eye of the todger!

Just in front of the shrine is a tree that is far from upright!

There is a map detailing a short coastal walk between this shrine and another one as well as a couple of other sights. One of them is the 72 metre-tall Inatorizaki Lighthouse which is just beyond the shrine but nothing much to look at! It has been there since 1972, and is supposedly located in a difficult place for maritime traffic on the cape.

On the way to and from the temple there was just enough time to take another quick look at the three metre-tall buddha statue at Shojoji Temple which is part of the Izu 88 Temple Pilgrimage.

I did take some new photos of the temple but frankly none of them were better than what I took a couple of years ago so I will just re-use the same ones. Torii gates are usually linked to shrines but temples built before the Meiji Period (1868-1912) also have them which may explain why there is one at Shojoji.

A bit further round the port area was a fishing boat sightseeing cruise area where the iconic landmark is this fairly big fish statue thing which I had never seen before.

Izu Inatori station is the gateway to the Hina Doll Museum which is a fairly unique and interesting little museum devoted to hina dolls. The station interior has an abundance of hina doll exhibits too.

The platform is something of an arty one as a load of impressive paintings line the walls on one side.

• Dontsuku Shrine is located at 1089-11 Inatori, Higashiizu, Kamo-Gun, Shizuoka-ken.

Click here to read ‘Visiting The Museum In Izu Which Is Dedicated To Hina Dolls’ 

Click here to read ‘The Search For A Big Buddha Statue As Part Of The Izu 88 Temple Pilgrimage’

Click here to read ‘Strawberry Vending Machines, A Big Buddha, Micro Shrines, Unstaffed Stations & Being The Only Train Passenger In Izu’

Click here to read ‘Banana Wani-En Gardens’