JAPAN NEWS

Visitors at Yushima Tenmangu shrine inscribe ema (wooden plaques) with wishes for academic success, then hang them alongside the countless other ema at the shrine.

TOKYO >> Students and parents are flocking to Yushima Tenmangu shrine in Bunkyo ward, Tokyo, to pray for success as entrance exam season gets underway. 

Yushima Tenmangu enshrines Sugawara no Michizane, a Heian period (794-1185) scholar and court official who is renowned as a “god of academics.”

Countless ema (wooden plaques) hang at the shrine, inscribed with wishes — “Praying to pass the entrance exam” and “I want to get into the school of my choice.”

“I prayed to pass the exam for the school I want to go to. I hope I can draw on all my abilities when I take the test,” said a 17-year-old high school student from Chiba prefecture.