Kameido Tenmangu Shrine Plum Blossom Festival 亀戸天満宮梅まつり

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Kameido Tenmangu Shrine Plum Blossom Festival 亀戸天満宮梅まつり

Kameido Tenjin Shrine is a short walk from JR Kameido Station. Small banners reading "Kameido Plum Blossom Festival" show the way to the shrine.

Made famous by woodblock prints from the Edo Period, Kameido Tenmangu Shrine (also called Kameido Tenjin Shrine) in Kameido, Koto Ward, Tokyo is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, a scholar of the Heian Period (794-1185), a god of learning.

Many students hoping to pass school entrance exams come to pray here. In Feb. and March, numerous plum blossoms bloom in white, red, and pink.

Kameido Tenjin Shrine and Tokyo Sky Tree.

Wisteria bed is bare.

Kameido Tenjin Shrine's ume plum blossoms made famous by Hiroshige's woodblock print from his series called "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo."

Numerous plum trees on the way to Kameido Tenjin Shrine worship hall.

Plum blossoms and Tokyo Sky Tree.

The shrine's background is changed forever with Tokyo Sky Tree.

Turtles

Taiko bridge

These plum trees also bear fruit. The shrine staff harvest the plums (ume) in May.

White and red plum blossoms and the torii gate at Kameido Tenjn Shrine.

Plum trees grew since the last time I took this shot.

Benten Shrine

Kameido Tenjin is one of the thousands of Tenmangu/Tenjin shrines in Japan that worship the famous Japanese scholar Sugawara Michizane (845–903) deified as Tenjin, the god of learning and scholarship.

Kameido Tenjin Shrine main worship hall. Notice the red and white plum blossoms on both sides.

Kameido Tenjin Shrine main worship hall in Feb. 2019.

Many students pray here during January to February to pass school entrance exams or to do well in school.

Votive tablets, made of wood and hung near the worship hall. People who buy it write their wish on it.

Ema tablets with wisteria design for Kameido Tenjin Shrine.

2019 was the Year of the Boar.

Sugawara Michizane is closely associated with plum blossoms because he once wrote a poem for his beloved plum blossoms that "flew through the air" (飛梅) to follow him when he was exiled to Dazaifu in Fukuoka.

That's why most Tenmangu/Tenjin shrines have plum blossoms. Kameido Tenjin Shrine flanked with red and white plum blossoms in March.

These plum blossoms are from Dazaifu Shrine in Fukuoka. Feb. 2019.

Offertory box

Inside the main worship hall.

Sacred cow statue.

Sacred cow statue. Rub the nose for good luck.

Monument for the man who first manufactured matches in Japan.

Statue of Sugawara Michizane as a child.

Memorial for writing brushes and any writing instruments including pens. You can put used pens in the box for disposal.

Plum blossoms on the left side of the shrine.

Weeping plum tree.

Plum blossoms at Kameido Tenjin Shrine, Tokyo

Tokyo Sky Tree and plum blossoms at Kameido Tenjin Shrine.

Photogenic shot of plum blossoms and a taiko bridge at Kameido Tenjin Shrine in Tokyo.

Heron stalking fish in the pond at Kameido Tenjin Shrine.

The right side of the worship hall is also lined with plum blossoms at Kameido Tenjin Shrine.

Kameido Tenjin Shrine and Tokyo Sky Tree.

Performers on the Kaguraden stage.

More plum blossoms on the right side of the shrine.

Tokyo Sky Tree and plum blossoms at Kameido Tenjin Shrine.

Weeping plum blossoms.

Mitake Shrine

Torii and plum blossoms.

Tokyo Sky Tree and plum blossoms at Kameido Tenjin Shrine.

The Usokae Festival is held every January at the Kameido Tenmangu (Tenjin) Shrine. "Uso" means bullfinch, and "kae" means to change. The bullfinch is a symbol of good luck, and uso can also mean "lie." People replace their wooden uso dolls believing that the previous year's bad luck was a lie, to be exchanged for good luck in the new year with the new uso doll.