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As a Sinologist myself, I have always been fond of Sugawara no Michizane, the greatest Sinologue (and writer of poetry in Chinese) from ancient Japan. For the same reason, I have a weakness for the Tenmangu Shrines dedicated to him.

Michizane (9th c.) died in exile, after a frustrated career, and as an angry ghost wrought havoc in Kyoto. To appease him, many shrines were set up, such as the famous Kitano Tenmangu, where he was honored as the god of literature (nowadays vulgarized into a deity helping with school exams).

You now find thousands of shrines dedicated to him all over Japan. You will recognize them by two symbols: the plum blossom, used in stylized form as the emblem of the shrines - often plum trees have been planted as well - and the ox, which is the messenger of Michizane as deity.

Plum blossoms were popular among Chinese poets, and also Michizane wrote famous poems about the tree, which was considered as a symbol of the Confucian gentleman. Oxen pulled the carts in which court aristocrats like Michizane rode.

Nishiki Tenmangu in Kyoto’s Shinkyogoku is thanks to its favorable location always full of people. It originally stood in the grounds of a large temple, but after the temple moved elsewhere, it became independent. It stands right at the entrance of the famous Nishiki shopping street, the arcaded market of central Kyoto and a popular tourist destination in its own right.

The shrine has given up on literature and even help by exams and turned itself into a love shrine, catering to the teenagers who throng Shinkyogoku nowadays. Even the omikuji fortune slips are about love, telling the supplicant whether succes in amorous matters will follow or not…

Interestingly, the fortune slips are served up from this machine, where a Chinese lion performs a short dance (with music), picks up a fortune slip with its mouth, and then drops it in the opening. The young people all take it as the game it is!

Do you believe in fortune slips?