Gojō Tenjinsha, Shinto shrine in Ueno-kōen, Tokyo, Japan
Gojō Tenjinsha is a Shinto shrine in Ueno Park whose main deities are Ōnamuchi-no-Mikoto and Sukunahikona-no-Mikoto, healers and founders of medicine. Sugawara no Michizane is enshrined alongside them in the same hall. The grounds also contain the separate Hanaen Inari Shrine, a related shrine with its own legal identity, and the Ana Inari Shrine, its original site.
According to shrine tradition, the shrine was founded when Yamato Takeru enshrined Ōnamuchi and Sukunahikona in Ueno during his eastern campaign; the name Gojō Tenjin appears in 1486. Sugawara no Michizane was added in 1641, when Tenkai and Kōkai performed an eye-opening ceremony for his statue. The shrine moved several times, reaching its present site in 1928.
The shrine's name comes from its origin as a Gojō Tenjin, and in 1641 the monk Tenkai enshrined a statue of Sugawara no Michizane here, giving it the nickname Shitaya Tenmangū. It is revered as a patron of poetry, and the annual usō-exchange ritual on January 25, tied to Michizane, replaces the previous year's wooden bird with a new one to remove misfortune.
The shrine is within the park and easy to access on foot, with clear pathways throughout the grounds. It remains a quiet place to linger, without overwhelming crowds, particularly outside peak hours.
The shrine shares its grounds with Hanazono Inari Shrine, an independent corporation administered by Gojō Tenjinsha rather than a subordinate shrine. Nearby stands Ana Inari Shrine, its original site, and the Yasae-mon fox shrine, said to have been built when the foxes of Shinobu-ga-oka lost their den during the construction of Kan'ei-ji.
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