Sp(Exclusive) Post 4: Kanda Shrine~

This is my first time going after finding out this sacred place from the net(quite slow to know until now since don't-know-how-many akiba trips...(-.-)

FYI: Kanda Shrine is a shrine near Akihabara. And, if you're a lovelivers(or not), this shrine was featured in the show LoveLive and thus making it even more famous to anime fans than before! 

The route to the shrine can be confusing if one walks from Akihabara. However, it's possible to walk but just hard to get there- the walk's not long; about 5-7 min but that is if you know your way there cos to go there, one has to navigate around the side streets to the shrine and you'll be shocked(if you've been to other jap shrines) that the shrine's located in between buildings... 

The nearest and also easier(not that confusing) would be through the station Ochanomizu.-It is just one stop from Akihabara but the line's JR Sobu Line(the yellow one) so if you came using JR Yamanote line, pls change to that Sobu line instead. Outside the station, there're directions(it's in english) toward the Ochanomizu's bridge, follow that direction till you reach a traffic light and cross the road towards the convenience store(you can see at the traffic light). From the convenience store, continue forward and you'll reach the shrine gate here:

And this is the shrine entrance:

And the procedure/behaviour to follow:

Made this to help myself (and maybe others?)

For more info: http://www.mustlovejapan.com/manner/shrine.html

You may wonder(for LoveLivers) where's the stairs that the U's members use to train in the anime.(That's part of the reason y I went to this shrine twice...) The stairs that U's members use is at the side of the shrine- (if I did not rmb wrongly) from the entrance, walk straight till you see an entrance to your right, you would see the stairs. 

But if you want to go up from there to the shrine, going from Akihabara will bring you there. 

when I gt there in the morning, there were two fans(I'm assuming) trying to time their run up the stairs

But like I said, route from Akihabara to the shrine is not easy unless you're familiar with the route; even though I've tried(and succeeded) going to the shrine from Akihabara, I'm not confident that I know my way since it's only once. That could be why you don't really see ppl writing reviews of how to go to Kanda Shrine from Akihabara; there're many ways yet not many landmarks for you to use to direct ppl(gt to see the map and infer from there...)   

But this shrine really is a must go for all anime fans(esp LLivers!) 

Now, the inside of the shrine:

First Trip

(From Ochanomizu station side) I got there a little late and only got to buy one omikuji.- Omikuji is something to check your luck/fortune. First, you purchase one(normally one costs from 100-200yen). It comes in the form of a slip of paper and depending on the shrine, some omikuji has both jap and eng translations while some only has jap translations. If you don't know jap, you wouldn't know the details of your fortune but the basics; whether your fortune/luck is good/bad can easily be understood by matching the chinese/jap words that mean good/bad fortune. Here's the list:

More info from here: http://zoomingjapan.com/wiki/omikuji-fortune-telling-paper-strips/

Normally, for curses, you gt to tie your slip of paper to the provided 'stands'- you would see those 'stands' with many tied-up papers on it. And of course, for blessings, there's no procedure for u to do; you can keep it or throw away- it's all up to you~ 

So I 'played' it in my first trip to the shrine(and it was the only thing I could do before the store there closes) 

Here's mine:

Not showing the english translation...)

It was my first time getting great blessing yet at that time, I was a little exhausted(after trying to find the shrine) so took me a while to process before I understood(haha...) 

And for Kanda Shrine, there's English translation at the back(tbh, most Tokyo area shrines' omikuji has english translation) but was slight costly at 200 yen per 'play'. 

Second Trip

I went in the morning and this time from Akihabara to find that stairs... And since there was plenty of time, I was able to explore more and buy the stuff I want~ 

Nozomi Omamori/Jap charm- bought for my sibling who liked Nozomi`

Various Ema

Spotted one nice Ema with the chars voiced by Mimori Suzuko(one of my fave VAs!>8<)

Beside just 'playing' omikuji, you can buy omamori/jap charm and there're various for ppl to choose, depending what type of charm you want; like if you're a student, you may want to consider buying the scholarship charm. Normally, one charm costs from 500-800 yen~ Since I gt one myself, I simply just bought the one I promised to buy for my sibling. There're also other anime(beside LL) Omamori-Do check it out if you gt a chance~

Moving on, you can also purchase an Ema. Ema is a wooden board for you to write your wishes down and hang like the pics above I show. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ema_(Shinto)

I never knew what Ema was till I researched it online. I was planning to write one in that trip but due to time restraint so...Maybe next time... As this is a shrine known to anime fans, there're many wonderful anime art on various Ema!- a lot of Love Live fanart and other anime art as well!

Ema price varies; the highest I have seen is 1000yen- those with longer board which made sense since you gt more space to write your wishes~ 

Beside all these traditional stuff that can only be done at jap shrine, I bought my Kanda Shrine X Love Live Chocolate food there at 900 yen(without tax~) and there's also ice-cream store, considering it is summer there~

Afterword

All I can say, Kanda Shrine is quite a unique shrine from those I went before. Normally, the shrines I went before like Meiji Jinju(near Harajuku station) has this long walk before reading the shrine gate and entrance. Not just that, shrines are normally located at some quiet areas like in a forest type yet Kanda Shrine is actually in between buildings! Really gave me a big eye-opener!

Fun Fact: Kanda Shrine was featured in one of my local-jap magazine:(found out that the matsuri lasted from 9-10 may when my exams had long finished...)

Misc.

A few pics I took in akihabara:

Love Live!

UDX building- LoveLivers would know the school Arise went, UTX is based on this building~

From Sega~

Not sure if it is always but during Sunday, the roads in Akihabara are closed off so one can walk at ease without waiting for traffic lights- great for anime fans to rush for the stuffs they want~

Shown in last post; gt it from sega~

Some 'tips' for anime fans going to akihabara first time: 

tbh, I would advice to stop and look through all shops with anime stuff if you're buying anime figurines cos akihabara has many that prices and availability of products differ in different stores. But if you don't have the time then... Suggestion of some notable stores would be: Animate and Volks- they are quite easy to find, btw; animate can be easily seen near the big softbank store and while Volks is near the station. Gamers is also not bad. (FYI: Ikebukuro has the biggest and is the main Animate outlet.)

And if you r gd at claw machine, you can play at Sega which is quite big or the other side claw machine stores~ 

For Gundam and gunpla fans... Well, Volks has some but quite limited in my opinion. Not sure of the side street since I don't really explore those in case of losing my ways. My best suggestion would be Yodabashi Camera- it has quite a big selection of gunpla plus other building kits there sold. In addition, there's tax free for tourists(need passport for verification) but u gt to spend at least 10,000 yen...  

Also, there's tower records for jpop or anime music fans in Yodabashi Camera~  

That ends this special and exclusive post, and also the last one in the list of special posts~ Hope all like this and the other special posts as well~

This is Yaiji signing off, ja ne

Yaiji