Kagata Shrine (Toshida Jinja) in Higashi-Shinagawa, Tokyo, offers two highlights. The first is its modest shrine architecture — a granite stone torii bearing the shrine’s plaque, a tile-roofed main hall, an Inari sub-shrine, and a pair of guardian lion-dogs clutching a ball and a cub. The second is the whale mound (kujira-zuka): in 1798, fishermen captured a roughly 16-meter whale that strayed into Shinagawa Bay during a storm; its bones were buried here and a stone inscribed “whale mound,” with verse by the literatus Ota Nanpo, was raised. It is the only surviving whale memorial in Tokyo, a designated Shinagawa Ward cultural property. The adjacent park carries the whale theme into the present with a stone monument and whale-shaped playground equipment. Founded in 1626 by the monk Takuan, the shrine pairs well with nearby Tokaiji, Shinagawa Shrine, and Ebara Shrine. Last updated: June 5, 2026.