Ume (prunus mume) 3 / Ushi-Tenjin

Yushima Tenjin, which was introduced previous posting (1),(2), is well known nation wide and always crowded with examinees, meanwhile, there are many quiet small local tenjin-sama allover Japan.

Ushi Tenjin, which have been cherished by Koishikawa neighbors for a long time, is one of them. Lee and I went to there to see Ume on March 1st.

In here, Koubai (red Ume) dominated rather than Hakubai (white Ume).

Gardian animal, Komainu.

I've never seen such a fantastic Komainu. It(she?) was in the middle of breast feeding! I didn't know that Komainu has gender difference. This feeding Komainu stood right side of the gate.

So then the left side one was the father?

The closest station is Korakuen(Marunouchi line and Nanboku line, Tokyo Metro), but it takes about 10 min. on foot from station. You can find the map from Ushi Tenjin's web site.

Ume (prunus mume) 2 / YushimaTenjin, two weeks after

On March 2nd, The ume flowers in Yushima Tenjin were full bloomed.
It was only 9:00 am, a bit early for sightseeing, however there were many Ume-watcher in the shrine yard.

Most of ume of this shrine were Hakubai (white Ume), which were full bloomed.
....and there were some Koubai (red Ume), too.

The pile of Ema was growing larger than 2 weeks before.

The students who had succeeded their entrance exam were hanging "Thank you-Ema".
You can find there are several piles of Ema all around the shrine yard.

As I mentioned in previous post, this place is recognized as a mecca for examinees.