Tokyo Diaries - Yushima Tenjin Re-visited

No ablutions occurred during the course of my visit.

I’ve been to Yushima Tenjin before and blogged it, but given the Noragami connection there were obvious reasons to go back. Besides, I’m a student and next week is finals week, and it’s virtually a requirement that all good students visit a Tenjin Shrine before final exams.

I’d actually intended to hit Yushima during their Ume Matsuri as I did last year, but weather and scheduling made it impossible. Happily, there were still lots of Ume in bloom on this gorgeous Saturday, though no sign whatsoever of the Yato God, Yukine or Hiyori – not even Tenjin (unless this was him, sneaking in). Yushima is certainly one of the loveliest Jinja in Tokyo – beautiful buildings, gorgeous landscaping, Shitamachi setting.

I also headed to Ikebukuro hoping to see the Yowamushi Pedal decorations at the Seibu Ikebukuro Station, but sadly they were apparently all inside the ticket barrier and I wasn’t about to buy a ticket. So I had to settle for a trip to Animate in Otome Road to see what the female fanbase is up to (these stairs only go one way).