Historical Overview
There are many shrines called 'Tenjin' or 'Tenmangu' in Japan. All of them are dedicated to the memory of Michizane Sugawara (845-903), who has for centuries been venerated as a patron deity of scholarship. Tenjin literally means heavenly gods. Michizane Sugawara was of noble birth in Kyoto. Not only was he a good politician, but also was a great scholar and calligrapher. With his talent, he was promoted quickly to the highest ranking minister. His promotion was so fast that his peers were jealous of his success. Finally, some of them falsely charged that he was trying to dethrone the emperor. As a result, he was demoted and transferred to a faraway town Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu island, roughly 550 kilometers west of Kyoto.
Masterminding his relegation behind the curtain was rival aristocrat Tokihira Fujiwara (871-909), who succeeded in establishing the Fujiwara family as the most distinguished aristocrat. Michizane grieved at the transfer, and two years later he died in sorrow at Dazaifu. His four sons, all serving the Imperial Court, also lost their jobs.
After Michizane's death, however, a series of thunderbolt struck Kyoto, one of them striking right on the living quarters of the emperor, and members of the Fujiwara family including Tokihira mysteriously died one after another. The Greek deity Zeus may have taken revenge on behalf of Michizane with its traditional power. Back at the time, thunder coupled with lightning was thought to be a typical super-natural power or a divine act. Court people believed those disasters must have fallen on them with Michizane's curse, and thought it necessary to propitiate his soul so that his curse might be lifted. Otherwise, revenge would continue to be exacted by the spirits of Michizane and his family. Thus, construction of the shrines to appease his curse, to venerate Michizane's apotheosis and soothe his vengeful spirit started all over Japan.
Grown up and spent most of his life in Kyoto, everything evoked Michizane's feelings of nostalgia in Dazaifu. A tanka (31-syllable verse) written by him to express his homesickness for Kyoto is well known to many Japanese even today, which reads like this:
"Ume (Japanese apricot) flowers! Don't forget the springtime even though your master is no longer with you. When an easterly wind blows, be sure to send me your sweet fragrance."
Japanese nobilities those days greatly loved plum blossoms, more than cherry, and its beauty was widely featured in classical art and poetry. Indeed, Man-yoshu, an anthology of tanka poetry composed in the 5th to 8th century, contains 104 poems featuring plum blossoms, as against only 38 for cherry.
Because of this famous tanka, plum trees are like the symbol of Tenjin shrines and almost all of them have the trees planted at their shrine
grounds. Here in Egara, a pair of red and white plum trees are standing
in front of the main hall; red one at the right and white one at the left.
The red one is said to bloom in late January, earliest in Kamakura. Altogether,
about 40 plum trees are planted. The first flower-viewing ceremony of the
year in Kamakura takes place in the Shrine. On the doors of the main hall,
the Shrine's emblem with five circles appears designed after the ume blossoms. The five circles and lines in
center depict round petals and stamens of
the flower.
The Shrine is one of the few religious structures which had existed before the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). Who built it is unknown. Legend asserts that on August 25, 1104, well before the military government was established in Kamakura, the spirit of Tenjin descended here, and local people constructed a small shrine to dedicate to the spirit of Michizane. As the site was located at the northeast direction, or Kimon {key-mon}, of the Shogunate office, in other words, an tabooed quarter, Yoritomo Minamoto (1147-1199), the founder of Kamakura Shogunate, venerated the Shrine as a guardian deity to ward off evils.
The structure made of the oratory in front and the sanctum at the back was last rebuilt in 1735, using the old pillars and beams of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine at the time of Tsurugaoka's renovation. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, however, ravaged many of structures in Kamakura. Tsurugaoka Hachimangu was not exceptional. Tsurugaoka immediately built a temporary main hall. After the construction of the permanent hall was completed, the temporary one was brought here again to replace the damaged main hall of the Shrine. That is what we see today. The two shrines have close relationship as both are associated with the similar Shinto elements.
With the nature of the Shrine as the deity of scholarship, it earned acclaim as a prayer hall for academic achievements. Students preparing for entrance exams flock here in early spring to offer prayers for their successful challenge. Each one buys a sacred, wooden Shinto tablet called Ema {eh-mah} for about 1,000-yen (it depends on what you pray for), on which they inscribe wishes so that they may pass entrance exams, like: "Help me to pass the exam. I wish to enter such an such college (or high school)." The Shrine hangs them on the outside walls of the oratory after the Shinto prayer and rituals were performed. Hundreds of those Ema can be seen hung on the Shrine's walls. In exam season, usually January to March, students can visit the Shrine early in the morning of the exam day and ask priests for Shinto prayer with a minimum fee of 1,000 yen. According to a local newspaper, about 15,000 Ema were hung in late January, 2010. (Picture, above; Ema-hung wall of the main hall.)
Egara is among the three main Tenjin in Japan. The other two are: Dazaifu, where Michizane was exiled, and Kitano in Kyoto, Michizane's birthplace. Of a total of 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan, there are 11,000 Tenjin or Tenmangu.
Inside the oratory, there is nothing particular
except Tamagushi (sprigs of the sacred tree) and other objects indigenous to Shinto shrines. The Shrine has a number of important artifacts, though. Most of them are kept at the Kamakura Museum. Shinto shrines usually do not have statues. The Shrine is, however, sacred to the memory of Sugawara, a real human, and therefore, it owns the following two statues of Michizane:
Both have indignant aspects and are called "Angry Tenjin", which shows Michizane tried to blame for false charge and plead not guilty .
They are on the list of ICAs.Portraits of Michizane Sugawara.
Four polychrome portraits are owned by the
Shrine, all are in full court dress of traditional
fashion. They tell us what the official costumes
the court nobles wore back then looked like.
All of them are made in the latter half of
the Muromachi Period (1336-1573).
Other than the above, the Shrine keeps a
number of ancient writings.
Kappa Fudezuka Stone
On the left-hand side of the main hall lies
a egg-shaped stone, roughly one-meter or
so long, which is called Kappa Fudezuka. Kappa is a water imp, an imaginary animal, which is a good swimmer and has a
shell on his back and a dish on top of his head. He is like a 4- or 5-year-old
human being. Kon Shimizu (1912-1974), a famous cartoonist, used this kappa as his main theme. He was almost synonymous
to kappa to the extent that a mention of it may instantly
evoke his cartoons. On the face of the stone,
there appears a kappa sketched by him. It was installed in 1971. On the back of the stone, five
letters "Kappa Fudezuka" are engraved, which were penned by Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972), a Nobel Prize winning author. Both were Kamakura residents and loved Kamakura.(Picture, left: Kappa Fudezuka Stone)
Brush Monument
A flight of steps behind the Kappa Fudezuka leads to a mound where stands a 3.2-meter-high bronze monument in the
shape of a brush. Around the monument, 154 kappa profiles in relief are affixed. Those are donated by cartoonists in praise
of Shimizu's achievements. It was erected in 1989. (Picture, below; Brush
monument)
A Ginkgo tree
On the right of the Shrine grounds, there is a sacred Ginkgo tree, roughly
900 years old and its girth measures 6.5 meters, the tallest in Kamakura.
It is a Natural Monument designated by Kamakura City.
Annual Events
January 15: Ritual for burning sacred straw-festoon
The ritual called Sagicho takes place at 10:00. Parishioners bring their old talismans and amulets
they kept the previous year and have priests burn them in sacred manners
after Shinto purification rituals were conducted.
January 25: Fude Kuyoo, or a memorial service for writing brushes.
In bygone days, Fude (writing brush) was one of the most important tools for intellectuals,
and they thought they should hold a memorial service once a year for the
tool in honor of and in appreciation of its role. The traditional ritual
has continuously been, and is practiced even today despite word processors
widely in use. Kon Shimizu was a regular. I observed this ritual in January
1998. When I arrived at the Shrine, more than 200 people had already been
there, many are aged and having top-grade cameras, and surrounded the oven,
roughly one-meter diameter, placed in the center of the courtyard. On the
oven were hundreds of used writing implements, mainly writing brushes and
some pencils, ready for burning. I believe those who brought brushes are
calligraphers and painters. Young students bringing pencils were found
here and there. At 10:30 a.m., the ritual began in the oratory. The chief
priest recited a Shinto prayer while Japanese ancient flutes were being
played. The ritual took about 20 minutes and then the chief priest followed
by other priests, all in traditional garb, came down to the oven and ignited
the brushes. Since writing brushes were made of bamboo and were dry, they
burst into flame.
A local newspaper above reported roughly 2,000 pieces of brushes and pencils
were burned on January 25, 2010.
A similar ritual is also observed at Shogaku-an, a sub-temple of Tofukuji in Kyoto. Why at temple? Legend has it among Zen Buddhists that a spirit of Sugawara flew to China overnight in the era of Sung Dynasty and it mastered Zen Buddhism. The spirit was called Toso-tenjin and some Zen temples enshrine it. (Toso means visiting China in the Sung dynasty era.) In Shogaku-an are mounds for writing brush, hence the name of writing-brush temple. Here, Fude Kuyo takes place on on November 23 (Japanese version of North American Labor Day) every year.
February 8: Hari Kuyoo, or a memorial service for sewing needles
Sewing needles were also as important as writing brushes in ancient days.
Religious people have long been holding a similar ritual for the used needles
and pray for safety from injury while sewing. What differs from the services
for writing brushes is that they do not burn the needles. Instead, needles
are stuck into soy-bean curd, offered in front of the oratory, because
it gives comfort to needles. Today's young women, meanwhile, do not use
sewing machines, let alone needles. The services are being observed by
old seamstresses and those who honor the traditional sewing.
July 25: Annual Shrine festival
A beautiful portable shrine elaborately decorated
parades the streets carried by young parishioners.
This portable shrine is kept at the sub-shrine
near the main hall and visitors can view
it anytime.
Note:
As noted above, I took part in the Fude Kuyoo ritual in January 1998. When I was about to pass the Shrine's gate that
morning, a car blew a horn from behind. The torii gate was narrow, barely able for a car to pass through. I got out of the
way wondering who on earth were coming in by car. A black shiny sedan stopped
ahead of me. Alighted from it was apparently a shrine priest garbed in
the Shinto formal dress for the ritual. Priests of wealthy shrines can
afford a chauffeured car.
(Updated April 2010)