The tiny Tokyo shrine where people pray for concert tickets

Hidden in the buzzing Nihonbashi district, this more-than-1,000-year-old shrine is believed to hold the power to let you see your favourite bands up close.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed in Tokyo's bustling Nihonbashi district. Suit-clad executives come and go from power lunches, well-heeled shoppers pack massive department stores and high-rise buildings nearly block out the sunlight from the ground below.

Just as I found myself mentally overloaded by the neighbourhood's crush of people, I stepped through a bright red torii gate and into a tiny, peaceful oasis called Fukotoku. I inhaled deeply and instantly felt calm.

While Tokyo is home to hundreds of similar Shinto shrines, I soon learned that this one draws devotees for a very specific reason. Instead of asking the kami, or Shinto gods, for good fortune or health, believers come here for a very specific wish: concert tickets.

From lotto tickets to J-Pop

Built in the 9th Century, Fukutoku Shrine is dedicated to Inari, a deity believed to bring abundant rice harvests and prosperity. In 1590, the prominent samurai Tokugawa Ieyasu visited the shrine and became so enamoured with it that he became a patron. With that patronage came perks.     

"He had such an affinity for the shrine that he allowed it some special privileges, including hosting lotteries," said Beth Carter, assistant professor of Japanese at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. "It really became very, very popular."

The lotteries helped fund shrine improvement, while winners kept a share of the jackpot. Over time, Fukutoku's reputation as a place to seek luck grew. Inari had always brought bounty; now people came to ask the kami for winning lottery tickets, too. Over the next 400 years, Fukutoku remained a haven for those looking for fortune. 

Fast-forward to the 1990s and a new musical movement added to the shrine's mystique. As J-Pop exploded, bands such as Glay, Speed and Morning Musume sold out venues across Japan and inspired a new form of super-fandom.

"Japanese idol culture became absolutely huge," said Krista Rogers, a reporter at the Tokyo-based news site SoraNews24. "There is a term called oshi. Your oshi is the band member that you support, the one that you idolise."

Dedicated fans purchase all sorts of merchandise to support their oshi, from T-shirts to decorated bags and buttons. But the one thing they may not be able to buy, however, is a ticket to see them perform. 

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