Kamado Jinja (竈門神社) used to be one of my favorite places in the greater Fukuoka area. Not many people knew about it, which was one of the shrine’s charms. But then a few years ago, the gift shop was renovated and the o-mamori talismans were redesigned to appeal to younger tastes. Couple that with the popularity of Instagram and Kamado is no longer a secret.

I am often conflicted about places like this. It’s the same with bands—the oh, I liked them before they sold out kind of thing. On the one hand you don’t want a shrine or a cafe to be so quiet that it goes out of business, but you don’t want the place ruined with mindless hordes taking a million selfies. Surely there must be a happy medium somewhere.