Kanda Myojin 【神田明神】

Kanda Myojin 【神田明神】 is one of the oldest Shinto shrines 【神社】, which was founded in 730 C.E. A Shinto shrine has Shintoism 【神道】. The deities enshrined are the guardian deities for Tokyo neighborhoods. It was located near the Imperial Palace.In 1603, when Tokugawa Ieyasu 【徳川家康】established his government in Edo 【江戸】( now Tokyo) and rebuilt Edo Castle on a larger scale, the shogunate moved Kanda Myojin【神田明神】 to its present site in order to guard against misfortune entering the castle from the inauspicious direction 【鬼門】.Throughout the Edo period, many people both in the government and among general public honored the Kanda Myojin as the Tutelary Shrine of All Edo.

One of the three most famous and important festivals take place at Kanda Myojin. This is called the Kanda Matsuri 【神田祭】. Matsuri【祭】 generally means a special festival which is held by a Shito shrine 【神社】 and the people in a community. A matsuri【祭】 is a special occasion when Shinto gods are believed to visit people in order to communicate with them. Most matsuri are held to welcome Shinto gods who are related to the community and ask them for prosperity and good harvests. During the Edo 【江戸】period, the Kanda Matsuri 【神田祭】 was supported by the both the government and the people of Edo 【江戸】.

People in Tokyo are very proud of Kanda Myojin's 【神田明神】 extremely long history almost 1,300 years. Kanda Myoujin 【神田明神】 is very popular with local people because they feel that if they worship here it will give them success and prosperity in their business.There are a lot of things you can see where you can really feel the atmosphere of Edo 【江戸】.

Seiya Kato