The Sumida River circuit of the Seven Deities of Good Fortune in Tokyo is the very first of this type of New Year pilgrimages: it was devised in 1804 by Sawara Kiku, a retired curio dealer and dabbler in Chinese culture. Sawara had bought land here for a garden, Hyakkaen, in which he installed a small statue of the Chinese deity Fukurokuju. He next searched the temples and shrines in the vicinity to complete the set of the lucky seven and so the pilgrimage was born. The Sumida River course thus stands at the cradle of a long and impressive line of lucky pilgrimages, but is itself one of the best - perhaps even the very best - despite the fact that Mukojima, the "Side Yonder of the River," where the course runs, has long lost its bucolic charm and now often is an eyesore jumble.
It is popular without getting extremely crowded. Start at either end, at Tamonji or the Mimeguri Shrine, and just follow the other people walking the pilgrimage. The whole course is about 3 kilometers, but as you need time to see the shrines and temples, count on spending half a day. Come here in the first week of January - that is when all temples are open to sell a small, black ceramic figure of their deity. These figures have to be placed on a ship, which you can buy at either end of the course. It is the Takarabune, the Treasury Ship of the Lucky Deities.

[Kannon and Main Hall of Tamonji - photo Ad Blankestijn] 
Bishamonten in Tamonji Temple(10 min N on foot from Kaneg...