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January 22, 2021

Tenjin-sama’s Ox

Tenjin-sama, Sugawara-no-Michizanë, is often described as the kami of scholarship, and for once this is fairly accurate. Strictly speaking, no kami is the “kami of” something abstract, and in many cases that sort of description seriously distorts the image of the kami in Japan. However, the association between Tenjin-sama and scholarship is so strong that, in his case, you can actually say that. He was not always the kami of scholarship, but he is now. This might make it slightly surprising that his sacred animal is the ox, a beast… Read More »Tenjin-sama’s Ox