Guardian on the roof of the hall (Photo: Tomoko Kamishima)

Tokyo Yushima Seido Hall

Now a shrine, in the past a school

Tomoko Kamishima   - 1 min read

Yushima Seido Hall, located in Ochanomizu, Tokyo, is now recognized as a shrine of Confucius, worshipped as the God of learning. When Japan's entrance exam season comes, huge numbers of students and their families visit here and offer up their prayers. In the Edo era, it was a place to explore the teachings of Confucianism. In 1690, the fifth Shogun, Tsunayoshi Tokugawa, established Yushima Seido Hall to encourage students to study Confucianism. Repeated fires demolished the buildings and eventually most of the land, which used to be part of the school have today become part of the campus of Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

Tomoko Kamishima

Tomoko Kamishima @tomoko.kamishima

Japan is a small island nation, but we have a huge number of surprising things to discover here. Many of these delights can be found when you step off the main street onto small side paths. I really enjoy studying about and researching various aspects of traditional Japanese culture, and then sha...