AkihabaraPop CultureTokyo

A Pop Shrine?? – Kanda Myojin Shrine in Akihabara

There are things that some enthusiasts Love with their Lives and others do not very much.
Today’s topic is about one of them, but I believe everyone will enjoy it as a humor.There is a large and popular shrine near Ochanomizu or Akihabara in Tokyo.
It’s Kanda Myojin Shrine.

Kanda Myojin Shrine, Tokyo, Japan

It is obvious that it’s a great spot as a must-see in this district.
It’s an old shrine loved by locals since Yedo era, hundreds of years ago. The gates and buildings are very beautiful… They hold traditional events… Popular especially among business people to pray for their success… They deal with IT charms (Heads up, bloggers!)…
I don’t need to say its beautiful things. See my Flickr Album to explore everything there, and fantastic skills of a monkey in a traditional Japanese monkey show (saru-mawashi) invited to a festival.

A traditional monkey show

Well, many shrines offer emas (wooden wishing boards) to let visitors write down and leave their wishes to gods. For example, these are all emas at Togo Shrine, just next to Takeshita Street in Harajuku. (I found some emas written in foreign languages.)

Normally, front designs of emas are simple; Just the shrine crest, someone related to the shrine or the Year Animal.
A normal ema
But Kanda Myojin Shrine is near Akihabara, which is a district of electronics, manga, anime, video games and other otaku culture.
So an ema was like….

This!!!

An ema of anime girls!!

Actually, Kanda Myojin Shrine appeared in this anime titled, “Love Live – School Idol Project,” so they sold limited emas of it as a collaboration last year.
It became popular among its enthusiastic fans.
It seems that some of them were so enthusiastic that they left their wishes on this ema that the anime would be more popular than ever!

So, if you hope to explore traditional beauty of Kanda Myojin Shrine, go there from Ochanomizu Station with famous medical schools. It is a cozy district as you can feel from this photo.

And if you love HER, go there from Akihabara Station with so many of them!



How to get to Kanda Myojin Shrine

From Ochanomizu
No matter where in Tokyo you are staying, get JR Chuo Line or JR Sobu Line to Ochanomizu. Tokyo Station or Shinjuku Station are the easy ways to understand.

From Akihabara
JR Yamanote Line, Sobu Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Tsukuba Express and Hibiya Subway Line stop at Akihabara.

To learn the outline of Tokyo City, See The Easiest JR Train Map!

Links
Kanda Myojin Official Website: http://www.kandamyoujin.or.jp/

Link to Google Map

Flickr Album of Kanda Myojin Shrine

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2 thoughts on “A Pop Shrine?? – Kanda Myojin Shrine in Akihabara

  • The emas are so cool. Maybe one day I'll see one with my book!!!! I hope your week is going well, my friend!

    Reply
    • Thanks, Red!
      It's so fun to see a new world, new things and new culture on travel blogs – I enjoy your Aussie adventures, too. And when you visit Tokyo some day, everything is OK with my sites!!

      Reply

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