Nishiki Tenmangu, Kyoto

As originally a Sinologist myself, I have always been fond of Sugawara no Michizane, the greatest Sinologist (and writer of poetry in Chinese) from ancient Japan. For the same reason, I have a weakness for the Tenmangu Shrines dedicated to him.

Michizane (9th c.) died in exile, after a frustrated career, and as an angry ghost wrought havoc in Kyoto. To appease him, many shrines were set up, such as the famous Kitano Tenmangu, where he was honored as the god of literature (nowadays vulgarized into a deity helping with school exams).

 

[Ox statue in Nishiki Tenmangu]

You now find thousands of shrines dedicated to him all over Japan. You will recognize them by two symbols: the plum blossom, used in stylized form as the emblem of the shrines - often plum trees have been planted as well - and the ox, which is the messenger of Michizane as deity.

Plum blossoms were popular among Chinese poets, and also Michizane wrote famous poems about this tree, which was considered as a symbol of the Confucian gentleman (it spreads a delicious but not too strong fragrance when the weather is still cold - like the "virtue" of the gentlemen in adverse circumstances). Oxen pulled the carts in which court aristocrats like Michizane rode.

 [Nishiki Tenmangu]

Nishiki Tenmangu in Kyoto's Shinkyogoku Street is thanks to its favorable location always full of people. It originally stood in the grounds of a large temple, but after the temple moved elsewhere, it became independent. It stands right at the entrance of the famous Nishiki shopping street, the arcaded market of central Kyoto and a popular tourist destination in its own right.

[Nishiki Tenmangu]

The shrine has given up on literature and even help by exams and turned itself into a love shrine, catering to the teenagers who throng Shinkyogoku nowadays. Even the omikuji fortune slips are about love, telling the supplicant whether success in amorous matters will follow or not...

 

[Omikuji robot in Nishiki Tenmangu]

Interestingly, the fortune slips are served up from the above machine, where a Chinese lion performs a short dance (with music), picks up a fortune slip with its mouth, and then drops it in the opening. The visitors all take it as the game it is!