"Tenjin Shrine at Yushima"
(Yushima Tenjin yashiro 湯しま天神社)

Series: Famous Places in Edo "Kôto meisho" (江都名所)
"Sanoki Half-Block Tokaido" Edition

(1839-1842)

Comment - Tenjin Shrine at Yushima - Terrific hilltop view from Tenjin Shrine at Yushima, with a stone torii gate at left and shops and restaurants lining the street. This spot was famous for its view to the north and east over the rooftops of Edo, with Shinobazu Pond in the distances. Buildings are decorated for the New Year with sacred straw or "Shimenawa" ropes hanging under the eaves and Kadomatsu pine branches flanking the doorways. About seven Edo kites ("Edo-tako", "江戸凧") fly overhead, their string tails fluttering in the breeze, and a plum tree blooms at far left. The flowering plum tree, showing the association with the Sugawara coat of arms, with Sugarawa beeing one of the stakeholders of the shrine.

Yushima Tenman-gū Shrine (湯島天満宮) is a Shinto shrine in Edo (nowadays Tokyo), devoted to Tenjin, the Kami of Learning and Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian Period to the court of Japan, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning. It is a frequent site of prospective students hoping to pass the entrance exams.

Built in 458 for another kami, Ameno-tajikaraono-mikoto (天手力雄命) of Japanese myth associated with strength and sports. The shrine was expanded in 1355 to enshrine the kami Tenjin as well. Currently both kami are enshrined at this temple. The shrine was later rebuilt in 1455 at the behest of local warlord Ota Dokan, and enjoyed greater popularity during the Edo Period when it was visited by such Confucian scholars as Hayashi Doshun and Arai Hakuseki.

Due to Tenjin's frequent association with plum trees, Yushima Tenmangu maintains an extensive grove of plum trees, and holds a yearly festival called ume matsuri (梅祭り) in February or March depending on when the trees bloom.

Signature - "Hiroshige ga" (広重画)

Publisher - Okumura Kihei (奧村喜兵衛) ("Sanoki Seal")

Image Size - 22.2 x 34.4 cm    (8 3/4" x 13 1/2") + margins

Condition - single sheet; nishiki-e (cloured woodblock); Horizontal ôban; Yoko-e ('landscape')