Plum blossoms' scent fills shrine honoring "god of learning"

Passing under the vermilion gate in eastern Tokyo, there is a sacred place with the scent of hundreds of plum blossoms. It is time now to visit the Kameido Tenjin, a shrine dedicated to the memory of Sugawara Michizane (845-903), revered as the "god of learning."

Tenjin, meaning "heavenly god," has come to refer to the spirit of Michizane, a late high-ranking Imperial Court noble who had never harbored any hatred to others and continued studies despite being forced into exile in the early tenth century.

Kameido Tenjin in Tokyo's Koto City is one of the 12,000 shrines throughout the country, commonly called "Tenjin-sama" named for Michizane, but it is the sole Tenjin shrine built with an identical design modeled after the head shrine in Dazaifu on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu.

A pair of racks full of votive wooden tablets with people's wishes or thanks written on them look heavy in front of the Kameido Tenjin's main hall.

The Main Hall of Kameido Tenjin

Michizane, a son of an educator, began showing his talent still in his younger age, composing a slew of Waka, or traditional Japanese poems comprised of Hiragana and Kanji characters, and Chinese version with Kanji characters only.

Historical records show that while working for the Imperial Court in Kyoto, he was at one time sent to Shikoku area, where he put a financially troubled state back on track, winning the local people's applause. He excelled as a scholar and an archer.

But the storm of the political conspiracies and jealousy by the rival Fujiwara family hit and led to his exile to Dazaifu.
Before leaving his residence in Kyoto, Michizane created a famous Waka:

    When the east wind blows

    Send me its fragrance

    Oh plum blossoms

    Even if the master is away

    Do not forget the coming of spring

A statue inscribed with this poem in Japanese stands along with other numerous stone statues in the shrine compound. Michizane, however, died at the age of fifty-eight in 903, without seeing his beloved plum trees at his Kyoto residence again.

There are some 300 plum trees planted in the precincts of the Kameido Tenjin, which was built in 1662 under the strong support of the fifth Tokugawa shogunate, Ietsuna.

During the Edo Period (1603-1868), the portraits of Michizane were hung on the wall at almost all Terakoyas, private schools for children from common people. The knowledgeable elders and retied samurai were among teachers, teaching them how to read, write and calculate. The number of Terakoyas was said to be about 15,000 nationwide by the end of the Edo era.

The plum blossom festival at Kameido Tenjin is held from Feb. 9 through March 10. The shrine is also popular for wisteria from late April to early May.

Kameido Tenjin: 3-6-1, Kameido, Koto City, Tokyo 136-0071

Access: 15-minute walk from either Kinshicho subway station, or Kameido or Kinshicho stations on the Sobu Line. Or take a bus from Kameido-eki mae and get off at Kamedio Tenjin-mae.

By Kozo

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