三峯山オリジナルショップ — Local services in Chichibu

This souvenir shop is unique - there is no other place quite like it in the world.

You'll find wolf sanctuaries across America and Europe, and they will invariably have gift shops with the usual stuffed toy wolves, books, stickers, key rings, T shirts and so forth. You'll see the same toy wolves pop up all over the place.

This shop, though, is special, not least because it's in Japan - a country which no longer has wild wolves. It is of course attached to the Mitsumine Shrine, which is well worth visiting. As the shrine heavily features wolves (the komainu, or guardian statues, are wolves, a nod to the founding story of the shrine), the merchandise likewise heavily features them.

The unique part comes in the variety of goods stocked - there are bits and bobs here that you simply can't find anywhere else, including crystal blocks with 3D wolves engraved within (replicas of some of the shrine's komainu), or stuffed toy wolves which are quite unlike any I've seen before - I've a feeling they're hand-made. There is also a large selection of sake, most of which features wolf designs on the packaging. This is very unusual, as I can't think of any other wolf shop which sells alcohol!

The stock rotates over the years too; I've been three times over the past decade and each time there are plenty of new items to browse, including a lovely photo book of the shrine this year. Just make sure you bring plenty of cash, as they don't accept cards.

The (friendly) staff don't speak English, but I've not found it a problem - knowing a few Japanese words is enough (including the ever-useful arigatou gozaimasu as a "thank you"). The till displays the amount owed even if you don't speak a word of Japanese, so buying things is...

三峯神社の帰りがけに寄りました。 オリジナルでオオカミのTシャツや手拭い、ぬいぐるみ、バッグやシール等々の店舗とお酒やお菓子を販売してる店舗でした。

オオカミの絵柄が多種多様✨

三峰限定の甘酒(酒粕ノンアル)とボールペン(黒赤)を購入。 レジ袋も3円、5円とありましたが三峰柄で記念に1枚。 紙袋(小／無料)もあるみたいですが…ボールペン買ったけど入れてもらえなかったです🥲自分用だったからかな？ 最後までTシャツは悩みましたが…断念w

甘酒は数本買いましたがクッション材等が巻かれなかったので割れたらアウトになるかも💦←コレも言えば巻いてくれたのかな？

ちょっと小休止できたので...

三峯神社の境内の中にある、オリジナルのグッズや土産物を販売しているお店です。店内には三峯神社の神の使い、オオカミをあしらったTシャツやキーホルダー、ぬいぐるみなどがたくさん販売されています。お店は向かって右と左のエリア、二つに分かれていて、向かって右側のオリジナルショップの看板があるエリアにはグッズが、左側のエリアには食べ物や飲み物、お酒などのお土産品が販売されています。レジは左側エリアの方にあり、どちらのエリアの商品もこちらでお会計することができます。店先には、三峯神社発→西武秩父駅行きの時刻表が貼ってあるので、バスで来られた参拝者の方は、こちらの時刻表を参考にさ...