If you Google "Hikan Shrine," you won't get much. It doesn't have Facebook or Wikipedia pages, but... None of that matters to this fearless collector! Maybe off the beaten path omamori will be my specialty!
Ah, but the the truth is, this is another from the Tokyo series. Hikan Shrine is in Asakusa right beside Sensoji. This Hikan Shrine omamori has a bit of an identity crisis. This is how I understand the situation. Asakusa Shrine is an umbrella name for Hikan and several other smaller shrines in the vicinity. Hikan Shrine is actually tiny. I doubt you could buy an omamori at the shrine's exact location. This one was purchased at the main shrine building, that is, the biggest shrine building. I chose this omamori because it was cute.
Legend has it that Hikan Shrine was built by some fire-fighting families during the Edo period.
I was with a group visiting Sensoji, and I came upon this shrine hoping to escape from the rain. There was a cat sitting under the omamori area, and I got to pet it for a while as I crouched under the table from the rain. I'm sure I looked strange. When the summer rain became drizzle, I knocked on the sales' window and picked this omamori up because of its looks. It's very cute, isn't it?
Hikan Shrine was a nice escape from the bustle of the more touristy Sensoji, and I'll always remember that slightly battered but perfectly friendly temple cat.
The website for Hikan Shrine and the Asakusa Shrine complex is right here.
No comments:
Post a Comment