For centuries, this stunning red and gold shrine has been so famous for its wisteria that Hiroshige featured it in his “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” series of woodblock prints. But that’s not the only reason to visit Kameido Tenjin! This immaculately kept red and gold shrine is worth seeing any time of year, and you should definitely come back for its unique good luck festival, plum blossom season and the autumn bonsai chrysanthemum displays.
January
brings two days of the Usokae Festival, in which they sell bullfinches carved by the shrine’s priests.
Bullfinches are called “uso” in Japanese, which sounds exactly like the world for “lie.” It’s believed that these figures will take your bad luck and turn it into a lie, so when you exchange them for a fresh one each year, you ensure that only good luck will remain in your life.
Then in
February
it’s time for the plum blossoms to take the stage! If a shrine has “Ten-jin” or “Ten-mangu” in its name, that’s a sign it’s especially dedicated to educational success. Right around the time students start praying to ace their exams and get into the university of their dreams, these shrines’ sacred plum trees burst into bloom to cheer them on.
Like others of its kind, Kameido Tenjin has perfect specimens of red and white plum trees planted either side of its main sanctuary…
and brings out its meticulously pruned bonsai plums to join in the celebration.
Among the trees blooming so exuberantly at Kameido Tenjin are many rare specimens…
including the choice varieties that bloom both pink and white on the same branch…
The plum trees frame the walkways in a bower of flowers…
and draw a perfect pink curtain for moon bridge viewing…
bursting like popcorn before the Shrine’s towering red torii gate.
Then in late
April
we can cross the moon bridges from this famous Hiroshige print
to marvel the endless expanse of wisteria vines!
The famous bridges are now lacquered a brilliant vermilion to match the shrine…
and as they transport us from one gorgeous trellis…
to the next arbor of meter-long blooms.
they provide the perfect contrast to the purple goodness…
and unmissable photo opportunities are around every bend.
As you can see, there are a LOT of them!
As an added bonus, during wisteria season from late April until mid-May, these beauties are lit up at night…
and Skytree robes itself in matching purple to celebrate!
But Kameido Tenjin isn’t finished with the floral wow just yet! If we return in
November
Tokyo’s tallest bonsai chrysanthemum gives Skytree a little competition…
and the shrine hosts a chrysanthemum display featuring all the favorites, from the big balls o’ blooms that are trained from a single plant to the cascading Elvis bouffants…
and even a “Japanese garden” of chrysanthemum delights.
Kameido Tenjin Shrine
Open: Every day
Hours: Never closes
Admission: FREE
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 