SAGA — Every sliver of space at a shrine here, from the walls to the floor to the ceiling, is packed with written pleas for success in exams.
Otsumonjugu shrine, which honors Manjushri, a bodhisattva who represents wisdom, is in the mountains along National Route 263 about a 20-minute drive from JR Saga Station. The “graffiti hall,” actually the shrine’s “jogu” or uppermost building, appears in a clearing after one ascends a steep, some 500-meter-long mountain path.
In the jogu, which is about eight tatami mats in size, graffiti prayers for success cover every available surface, down to a bell and the offering box. And in a very unusual move, the local community association that manages the shrine even has permanent markers ready for visitors. In other words, all those hopeful scrawls are “encouraged.”
According to association member Yukio Kuga, 70, the graffiti’s origin is unknown. However, word that the shrine is good luck has spread organically, as the pleas for exam success are written in permanent marker and can’t be wiped out, implying that the students won’t “wipe out” on their exams. Test-takers come from all over the country, especially on weekends. And since high school baseball team players sometimes run up to the building during training, there are also written prayers to “make it to Koshien” (the national high school baseball championships).
The mountain path leading to the jogu was temporarily closed due to damage caused by heavy rains a few years ago, but has now been repaired.
(Japanese original by Kota Yoshida, Kyushu Photo Department; video by Rintaro Nagasawa, Video Group)
