Hear wind chimes ring across a summer shrine
Every summer, some Shinto shrines hang hundreds or even thousands of furin, small glass or metal wind chimes, along their paths and corridors. Walk beneath them as they ring in the breeze, and in the evening many are lit up. The displays run only from about June to early September, so check the dates before you go.
A corridor about 8 m long beside the main hall is hung with some 1,500 Edo furin, hand-blown glass wind chimes, and in the evening the chimes and a small stream in the grounds are lit up. The shrine is known for prayers for love and good marriages. Kawagoe, a town of old merchant houses, is about 30 minutes from Ikebukuro by train.
During its summer festival, the long approach to an inner shrine is hung with thousands of colorful wind chimes, so the sound grows as you walk. It is in Fukutsu, a short train ride from Fukuoka, so it suits a stay in Kyushu rather than a day trip from Tokyo or Osaka.
About 800 glass wind chimes hang around the grounds of this old shrine in western Kyoto, including beside the basin where visitors rinse their hands before praying. You can write a wish on a paper strip and have it tied to a chime. The shrine is next to Matsuo-taisha Station on the Hankyu line, one stop from Arashiyama.
A covered corridor in front of the main hall is lined with hundreds of wind chimes in blue and bright summer colors, and lamps come on in the evening. In spring the same corridor is hung with pinwheels, which are swapped for chimes in late June. It is in Nakagawa, south of Fukuoka, and easiest to reach by taxi.
Close to a thousand wind chimes cast in metal, not blown from glass, hang along the approach and grounds of this hilltop shrine. They are made in Sano, a town known for Tenmyo ironwork, a casting craft with centuries of history. The shrine sits on a mountain in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, and is easiest to reach by taxi from the station.