A woman was slowly descending the Onna-zaka slope at Atago Jinja Shrine

Woman descending the Onna-zaka at Atago Shrine — Woman descending Onna-zaka

Atago Shrine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, is famous for the stone steps of success that await visitors beyond the torii gate. Most people who pass through the torii gate and head for the shrine building climb the steep stone steps, named after a legendary story. Even people with slight disabilities climb up the steep steps, so the key word "Success" must attract many people to the shrine. On the other hand, next to the steep stone stairway to success, there is a gentle slope called Onna-zaka (women's slope, stairs in photo), but few people choose to climb this slope. If they are going to climb the staircase, many people choose the one that will bring them good luck.

As was the case at Yushima Tenjin Shrine, here at Atago Shrine, the steep staircase is called Otoko-zaka (men's slope) and the relatively gentle staircase is called Onna-zaka (women's slope). When the concept of gender equality did not exist, if there were steep and gentle slopes, it was common to describe steep slopes as masculine and gentle slopes as feminine. Nowadays, in order to avoid various troublesome situations, naming using gender differences between men and women must be avoided. As a result, it is often difficult to imagine the form from the name, but if that is the correct form, it is inevitable. If anything, the problem is that even women's slopes are often unexpectedly steep.

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