Yushima Tenmangu

Yushima Tenmangu, popularly known as Yushima Tenjin, is located in Yushima, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, on the eastern edge of the Hongo plateau west of Shinobazu Pond. The principal deities are Ame-no-Tajikarao-no-Mikoto and Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903). Shrine tradition records founding in Yuryaku 2 (458 CE) to enshrine Ame-no-Tajikarao, with Michizane added by joint enshrinement in Shohei 10 (1355). After Tokugawa Ieyasu's entry to Edo, the shogunate patronized the shrine and the precincts were improved. It became a major Tenjin shrine of Edo with a strong following among the merchant class, and was ranked as a village shrine in the Meiji era. The present hinoki-cypress main hall was rebuilt in 1995. The plum grove in the precinct has been a noted spot since the Edo period and appears in early-modern paintings. Principal festivals include the grand festival in May and the plum-blossom festival in February.