🌸April Special Goshuin🌸
Since it has become suddenly warmer since March this year, the shrine grounds are in full bloom with various flowers, making it the height of spring🌸
The long-awaited cherry blossom season🎵
While feeling that the Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms are blooming much earlier this year, this season always lifts one's spirits, doesn't it...❣
This month, we have prepared special Goshuin with a cherry blossom🌸 theme.
◆ "Cherry Blossom Blizzard" Special Goshuin
*We will stamp this directly into your book. (Pre-written sheets are also available)
Under the clear sky, the enshrined deity Ono no Takamura, the associate deity Michizane, and the shrine animals enjoy the cherry blossoms from above. Takamura-ko enjoys a tea party in the sky, while Michizane-ko recites waka poetry.
If you, O cherry blossoms, have not forgotten your master, then please convey my message to the blowing wind.
Michizane-ko, who loved the trees in his garden, recited this poem to the cherry tree when he left the capital.
The sight of cherry petals dancing in the wind is just like snow.
In Japan, there are expressions like "cherry blossom blizzard" and "snow unknown to the sky," which liken the sight of dancing cherry petals to snow. "Snow unknown to the sky" is a term that compares cherry petals to snow that the sky did not intend to let fall.
We have created this Goshuin to capture the soft scene of a spring day with such cherry petals dancing about...♪
◆ "Cherry Blossoms" Special Goshuin
The "Cherry Blossoms" special Goshuin is themed around the"Kyokusui no En" (Winding Stream Banquet)held under the blooming cherry trees!
"Kyokusui no En" is an elegant event reminiscent of the Heian period, where participants wear Heian-style costumes such as the twelve-layered ceremonial kimono and recite waka poetry in a garden.
The enshrined deities enjoying the banquet, and the woman in a kimono is Ono no Komachi, who is said to be the granddaughter of the enshrined deity Ono no Takamura🎵
This Goshuin is accompanied by the famous poem by Ono no Komachi that shines brilliantly in the history of waka poetry:
"The color of the flowers has faded, while I have spent my time in this world in vain, watching the long rains fall."
We have decorated it with pink foil appropriate for spring and sparkling glitter♪
The enshrined deity Takamura-ko and Ono no Komachi are in the middle of reciting waka poetry.
The elegant Heian freestyle waka battle (!? ) begins!
◆ "Sakura Mōde" Special Goshuin
"Sakura Mōde" is a new custom of visiting a shrine during this time of year when cherry blossoms are in bloom.
We hope you will visit our cherry blossom-filled shrine as you prepare for your new life in the new fiscal year, and pray for your safety and continued prosperity in the coming year.
The enshrined deity and the shrine's animals are swayed by the spring breeze.
The enshrined deity, Ono no Takamura, is composing waka poetry while gazing at the landscape of flowers.
In addition to the "Sakura Mōde" Goshuin that captures the feeling of the spring breeze, perfect for this season, we are also offering limited-time cherry-blossom-colored amulets.
We hope you have a refreshing visit with a renewed heart🌸
◆ Yayoi Goshuin
This month's theme is "Cherry Blossoms".
Cherry blossoms have been loved by the Japanese people since ancient times.
Although they have an ephemeral image, because Japan is long from north to south, you can enjoy the flowers somewhere in Japan for over a month, starting from when they bloom in the south until they reach Hokkaido.
Thinking of it that way, cherry blossoms are, in a sense, plants that you can enjoy for a long time, aren't they?🎵
◆ Enriching your visit through information
We are giving away a special leaflet for free to those who receive a Goshuin. We have prepared a sufficient number, but please note that quantities are limited.
This month, we have included many columns, such as an episode about our enshrined deity Sugawara no Michizane and cherry blossoms, as well as information about Kōshinzuka and cherry blossoms during our shrine's annual festival month. Please be sure to read it😊
Also, this month, for "Sakura Mōde," we are giving away a "Cherry Blossom Round Bookmark" and a "Special Leaflet" for free to those who receive the "Sakura Mōde" Special Goshuin, and a "Clear Bookmark" for free to those who receive the "Cherry Blossom Blizzard" Special Goshuin.
We hope you enjoy them as companions to your Goshuin book🙂
◆ Guide to Monthly Visits
"Tsukimairi" (monthly visit) refers to visiting a specific shrine once or twice a month.
It is about steadying your breathing before the deity, straightening your back, putting your hands together, and expressing your daily gratitude. It is also about returning to your honest, true self before the gods, reflecting on the month, clearing your mind, and making vows for the future.
—The accumulation of such "prayers" gradually brings the distance between our hearts and the gods closer.
At our shrine, as a "mark of your monthly visit", we provide a special Goshuin featuring designs that evoke the beautiful seasons and culture of Japan, as well as a special leaflet containing columns on monthly festivals, the calendar, and Japanese culture, free of charge.
A shrine is a place where "deities," "nature," and "people" intersect.
For those who find it difficult to visit in person, we hope this will help you feel the presence of the shrine and the four seasons in your daily life, so we provide3 to 6 types of "wallpaper for your phone" every month.
"Goshuin," "leaflets," and "wallpaper for your phone"—as a shrine that enshrines deities ofperforming arts, academics, and business, we deliver these with all our hearts, aiming to provide content that you can look forward to every month.
Please take a look.
We hope that you will continue to visit us this month and feel the colors of the seasons in your daily life through this journey of the four seasons with our enshrined deities.
Through the land preparation and tree planting we have been gradually carrying out on the shrine grounds, we hope you will encounter various flowers and the powerful workings of nature each season, even within our small grounds.
We also have chairs available on the shrine grounds.
Why not take a moment to step away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and spend some time relaxing...😊
We sincerely pray that the beginning of your new fiscal year will be a wonderful time, blessed by many things✨
