Tokyo Redux II: Kanda Myojin

Before diving back into the nerdom of Akihabara, I took a short stroll down from the station to Kanda Myojin shrine.

There was something rather enchanting about finding it, the small side entrance torii coyly and quietly tucked away between the red-brick city buildings.

Kando Myojin was an important shrine, at first mostly to the samurai class, but in the Edo period it became popular with the general public after the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu paid it particular respect. People today visit Kanda Myoji to pray for luck in business, family, and in finding future spouses; the kami enshrined here are Daikokuten, Ebisu and Taira no Masakado.

 

a beautiful fountain to the right of the Main Hall

 

a statue of Dakokuten

A somewhat unusual statue of Ebisu, who is usually portrayed as a cheery man with a fishing rod. This statue hearkens more to his origins as the firstborn "leech child" of Izanagi and Izanami. Because of a Izanami basically messed up the marriage ritual by greeting Izanagi first--and they had to redo it--Ebisu was born deformed and thrown into the sea in a basket as a child. He washed ashore on one of the northern islands, where Ainu found and raised him, and he eventually grew bones. Thankfully.



A fortune-teller machine. Reminds me of Big a little bit, only with a Japanese puppet instead of Zoltar.

When I arrived, workers at the shrine were taking out some of the mikoshi. I believe they were making preparations for a festival coming up soon. Kanda Matsuri would be held this year on the 15th and 16th of May (about a week and a half after I visited), in honor of the kami of Kanda Myojin, although originally it started as a victory celebration after Tokugawa Ieyasu won at the battle of Sekigahara.