Have you already visited any shrines this year? Recently I’ve become interested in visiting shrines in my neighborhood in order to learn about their history. Today I visited Oizumi Tenjin Kitano Shrine in Oizumigakuen, Nerima ward. Have you ever been there? It is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and politician of the Heian period who is thought to be the patron saint of scholars and learning. There are said to be 12,000 shrines across Japan that enshrine Michizane. That’s a lot!
After that I had lunch at Marugame Seimen (Mentaiko udon and tempura. Yum!) and bought some fluffy house slippers (My poor feet get cold when I’m teaching my online students).
1 Shrine 神社, 2 Scholar 学者, 3 Enshrine 祀る (まつる）
