Kitano Tenman-gū
Historical Background
Emperor Uda had sought to become more independent of Fujiwara control after the death of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa in 891. Doing so, he promoted his own men, including Sugawara Michizane. Michizane’s rapid rise, far above what his station in life would dictate, caused much envy. Soon after the Uda’s abdication and Emperor Daigo’s enthronement, Fujiwara Tokihira, Yoshifusa’s adopted son, assembled a group to get rid of Michizane. Daigo believed them when they accused Michizane of attempting to force him to abdicate and then to replace him. Daigo denounced Michizane, stripped him of rank and titles, and banished him to Kyūshū where he died separated from his family and impoverished.
After Michizane’s tragic end, there was a series of lunar and solar eclipses reported. There was severe drought and epidemics causing great suffering. The conspirators, including Tokihira, died horrible deaths within a few years. Then came prolonged periods of extremely heavy rains, violent thunderstorms (one caused a fire that destroyed over 600 houses), typhoons, and floods in Kyoto. Lightning struck the imperial palace setting it on fire and killing some important people. Daigo lost several children and he died at a young age.
Sugawara Michizane was deified as Tenjin-sama (a spirit of the sky who could direct lightening), and enshrined as the God of Learning and Calligraphy and was given the title of Heavenly Deity. Kitano Tenman-gū was built to appease his spirit in Kyoto. As the God of Learning, students will go to Kitano Tenman-gū to pray for Sugawara’s help in passing exams.
The Shrine
In 919, Fujiwara no Tadahira, brother of Tokihira, rebuilt the Anraku-ji at the Dazaifu and in 959, Tadahira’s son Morosuke (908-60) sponsored a building in what was later to become the celebrated Kitano Shrine in Kyoto. The shrine goes back to a miko (a Shinto shrine maiden or a supplementary priestess who were once likely seen as shamans) called Ayako who received an oracle from Michizane instructing her to worship him at Ukon no Baba; a site in an area of Kyoto generally referred to as Kitano. Ukon no Baba had been a place of agricultural worship dedicated to the thunder and water gods and numerous prayers for rain or a good harvest were held there, some offered by Emperor Daigo and prominent politicians like Tokihira. Morosuke established the Kitano Shrine, with branches all over Japan.
Though the shrine was originally dedicated in 942, it has been rebuilt several times, and what is seen today was rebuilt in 1607.
It is an example of Gongen architectural style. Gongen-zukuri is a style of shrine architecture developed in Momoyama Era. The buildings are laid out in a figure H. There is a complex roof structure in the Irimoya style (Irimoya-zukuri – all four sides of roof are sloped) with a kara-hafu (arch-shaped gable use to decorate a roof) and a chidori-hafu (decorative triangular gable built into the sloping roofs of temples and other buildings).
It served as a model for the Tōshōgū Shrine at Nikkō.
Tenman-gū is also a fine display of religious syncretism (mixing Buddhism with Shinto) with Buddhist mandalas and torii gates. There is also a lotus petal base, referring to the Lotus Sutra, as Dougill calls, “a Buddhist graft on a Shinto shoot.” (Dougill, Cities of the Imagination, Kyoto, p131)
It was also the site of the largest tea ceremony gathering in history. In 1587, Sen no Rikyū and Shogun Hideyoshi came together and held a tea party. Hideyoshi in his typical grand style invited everyone to the Kitano Tea Party. It had 800 pavilions and went on for several days. Hideyoshi and Rikyū served tea to promote social harmony and public awareness of tea.
Another feature is the plum trees, 2000 or so of them. Plum trees were a favorite of Michizane. On February 25th, there is Baika sai (Plum Blossom Festival) where white rice wrapped in senkashi (thick paper made from mulberry bark) and decorated with plum blossoms is offered. It is also when geisha serve tea in an open-air tea ceremony (nodaté) to the general public in a commemoration of the Kitano Tea Party.
In 1444, Shogun Yoshimitsu had shops built from left-over wood from a rebuilding which developed into Kamishichi-doen. Kamishichi-ken (an ochaya, teahouse) and a bar-lined street from Kitano Tenman-gū to Imadegawa-dori form the heart of the smallest but oldest geisha district (geiko).
At the Ema Hall, the Ema-dō, which is the oldest part, dating from 1608, one can see small wooden votive tablets carrying that have pictures of a horse. They are used an offering to the shrine in place of a real horse. A wish or prayer is written on the back and the ema is then hung up at the shrine. Usually these prayers are from schoolchildren wanting to pass an exam.
On the 25th of each month is a flea market.
Also Nearby
The Seimei Shrine was built in 1007 and commemorates Abe no Seimei. Abe no Seimei (c921-1005), was a court advisor who practiced Onmyodo, the Way of Yin-Yang. This was from China and affected all areas of life, including decisions of state. Seimei could predict the future and served six different emperors, who relied on him for their decisions.
If one is interested in astrology, Onmyodo, and other such things, at Daishogun-hachi there is all manner of astrological aids and Taoist deities.