Yushima Tenmangu Shrine

The Yushima Tenjin Shrine (or Yushima Tenmangu Shrine) is the most famous shrine of scholars in Tokyo. This picturesque shrine with its tree-lined grounds is located on the top of a slope in the Tokyo district of Ueno, near the Ueno Park.
This ancient shrine was founded in 458 AD to worship the god Ameno-tajikaraono-mikoto. In 1355, it became one of many "Tenjin" shrines across Japan - the most famous was Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto.
Tenjin is the name of the deified spirit of the famous scholar Michizane Sugawara (845-903) from the ninth century. Sugawara, a senior government official, was originally idolized as a soothing response to the natural disasters that struck the then capital, Kyoto, in politically motivated exile immediately after his death.
But his reputation as a scholar finally outshone his supposed power to bring about natural disasters, and he was venerated as the god of learning.
That is why Yushima Tenjin, like all Tenjin shrines, is visited by students to pray for passing exams and to label ema - small wooden boards - with requests for exam success and entry to the university of their choice.

A shrine in walking distance from Ueno Park. Starting from the Yushima station, you notice the suddenly steep and high staircase, which makes you curious about what lies hidden behind it. A medium sized beautiful shrine with a pond.

Yushima Shrine
Tablet says:
Commonly known as thr Yushima Tenjin, Yushima Shrine stands on a ridge above Kiridoshizaka slope. The shrine is said to have bean founded in 1355 and was afterward restored by Dokan Ohta in 1478.
The grounds are dotted with a large number of Japanese plum trees and commands a fine view of the streets below the east cliff. It is well known that such literary scholars as Doshun Hayashi and Hakuseki Arai worshipped the shrine as "Shrine of Literature."
The plum trees at one time nearly withered, but the donation of hundreds of young trees by the local community has succeeded in retaining the fame of the shrine. The annual "Ume-Matsuri," the Plum Festival, in February through March still claims attention of the nation_wide plum admirers.
1973 JanuaryPersonal view:
Big parking lot in the back for staff and workers.
No view of street.
Men dress fancy old hight priest dress, white and gray with black high hat. Women, better girls 18-21 of age, dressed with red+wh