A girl and her father were walking down the stairs of the Ikegami Homon-ji temple in good company
The temple complex of Ikegami Honmon-ji, located in Tokyo’s Ōta Ward, sits atop a small hill. Walking up the main approach, one’s path is soon blocked by a steep flight of stone steps—ninety-six in total, if you take the trouble to count. It’s as if the place were declaring that faith itself is an act of endurance. By the time you reach the top, a few of your worldly desires may have already trickled away with your sweat.
For the locals, however, this staircase serves less as a test of devotion and more as a kind of open-air gym. In the morning hours, people in training wear move silently up and down the steps, their labored breathing mingling with the distant sound of temple bells. Watching them, one might mistake them for ascetic monks rather than fitness enthusiasts. Each footstep on the stone seems to strike a chord between history and muscle memory. These steps have witnessed pilgrims since the Edo period; perhaps these modern climbers, too, are a kind of secular “gyōnin”—travelers on their own spiritual workout.
Amid this almost monastic exertion, I noticed a father and his small daughter descending hand in hand. The girl, oblivious to the sacred gravity of the place, was hopping lightly from step to step as if the ancient staircase were a playground slide. Her father looked a little weary but adjusted his pace to match hers. It was a small, tender scene—a reminder that even in a place of discipline and devotion, playfulness still finds its way in.
| Nov 2017 PEOPLE TOKYO | |
| IKEGAMI PARENT AND CHILD STAIRWAY TEMPLE |
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PHOTO DATA
No
10333
Shooting Date
Jul 2017
Posted On
November 1, 2017
Modified On
November 6, 2025
Place
Ikegami, Tokyo
Genre
Street Photography
Camera
SONY ALPHA 7R II
Lens
SONNAR T* FE 55MM F1.8 ZA
