A Lenten Pilgrimage Featuring the Seven Gods of Fortune and a Partial Rosary

I spent a lot of time watching cartoons as a kid. One of my favorite visuals from that era is the snowball that gets bigger and bigger as it rolls down a mountainside. Maybe the reason I liked watching that snowball's size and momentum grow is that I imagined one of my family members, whichever one had tattled on me most recently, standing at the bottom of the mountain just where the cartoonist positioned Wile E. Coyote. In my defense, I never imagined an anvil dropping on any of their heads. I've always considered myself a slightly over-sensitive pacifist.

Our trip to Asakusa in Tokyo this week was a good snowball.  Weather Explorer got wind of a shrine not far from Sensoji famous for happy cats.  Since our friend Shinagawa-san has quite a collection of happy cats, Weather and I thought she might enjoy visiting that shrine.  I'll tell you more about those happy cats when we actually get to the Imado Shrine which won't be today.  The snowball has to roll about halfway down the mountainside before we reach the Imado Shrine.

The three of us squeezed into the first car of the train that left Yokosuka-chuo station shortly before 9:00 am.  The trains are more crowded since the earthquake because they are shorter.  I think this has something to do with energy conservation.  A 12-car train on March 10 is now an 8-car train but as many people are riding the trains so they tend to be squishy.  Squishy doesn't bother me the way it bothers some Americans, and Weather and I rarely have to stand past Yokohama because we have developed keen eyes for seats about to be vacated and quick reflexes.  A facial expression that combines innocence and cluelessness is also helpful when you're trying to beat a young salaryman out of a seat.

Tomoko-san was waiting on the platform when our train pulled into Yokohama.  The trains here always stop in the exact same place next to the platform so Tomoko-san only had to take two steps forward to join us in the first car.  She pulled out a little map and that snowball started rolling down the mountainside.

What's not to like about maps?  The one Tomoko-san was clutching was about as intriguing as a map can get.  It charted a pilgrimage to the shichi-fukujin (Seven Gods of Fortune aka the Seven Lucky Gods).  Our original destination, the Imado Shrine, was number four on the proposed pilgrimage so how could we possibly resist turning our little outing into a hatsumode (which I think means pilgrimage)?  This tradition began in the Edo era all across Japan when the common people who believed in the power of these gods to bring good luck and happiness began making circuits shortly after the new year.  The Asakusa circuit we followed was popular until the beginning of World War II.

It being Lent and all, I opted to view the shrines and temples on the circuit as "stations" on the order of "Stations of the Cross".  I said a Hail Mary at each shrine and temple after tossing a coin into the money receptacle.  Call me ecumenical.  And brace yourself for a summary that just might take as long to read as we spent on our pilgrimage.
 

Shinagawa-san, Weather, and Tomoko-san at Sensoji

Daikoku-ten was the first god we visited. We found him in a little garden off to the left of the main hall at Sensoji. Daikoku-ten is the god of wealth, commerce, and trade. He is often paired with Ebisu on the walls of small retail shops.

Asakusa Shrine for Ebisu (the god, not the beer)

We found Ebisu, the god of fishermen or merchants, at Asakusa Shrine, to the right of Sensoji's main hall. Ebisu is the happy chap who graces the Japanese beer of the same name, my personal favorite. He is usually shown holding a big fish which my sources tell me is a sea bream.

The Asakusa Shrine was erected in memory of the fishermen who are believed to have found the large statue which is the focal point of Sensoji Temple. As we were approaching the shrine, Tomoko-san taught me something new. She told me to walk on the side of the path leading to the shrine rather than the center. The center of the path is apparently reserved for the shinto gods. Walking on the side of the path is not required when approaching a temple. Apparently Buddha is more casual than the gods in the Shinto pantheon.

After an interesting little ramble along the Sumidagawa (Sumida River) which will be the subject of a separate post so as not to confuse you, we entered the incredible grounds of Matsuchiyama-shouten. Shinagawa-san taught me that "-shouten" is the suffix denoting a combination shrine and temple.

Matsuchiyama-shouten is the home of Bishamonten, the god of warriors.

The temple is on the top of a small hill but we took a quick right halfway up the hill to explore a lovely garden before poking our noses in the temple. Tune in tomorrow if you want to glimpse that garden and continue on our pilgrimage.