Imagine finding a divine statue washed up on the beach. That’s how the story of Toka Ebisu Jinja Shrine began.
Hello everyone. We are now standing before the Toka Ebisu Jinja Shrine in Fukuoka. This shrine is more than 400 years old. It all started when Takeuchi Goemon found a statue of Ebisu on the beach in 1591. He was returning from visits to Kashii-gu and Hakozaki-gu. In January 1592, he built the Toka Ebisu Jinja Shrine. It was dedicated to the god Ebisu.
Today, the enshrined deities are Ebisu and Daikoku-sama. Ebisu is the god of business prosperity. Daikoku-sama is the god of marriage. The shrine is located inside Higashi Park.
The shrine is usually quiet. But it becomes very busy during the New Year festival called Toka Ebisu. The festival is held from January 8th to 11th. Over a million people visit to wish for success in business and family prosperity. About 400 stalls are set up during the festival. You can enjoy Hakata’s culinary delights there. All lottery tickets sold here come with a lucky prize. You can hear shouting voices declaring lottery outcomes. “Oatari” means lottery win. “Suehirogari” means growing prosperity is promised.
A famous scene happens on January 9th around 3:00 pm. Geisha girls visit the Toka Ebisu Jinja Shrine. This is known as Kachimairi. The geiko come from the Hakata Ticket Office. They are dressed in formal kimonos. They wear crests and ornamental hairpins. They walk to the shrine with shamisen, flute, and drum music.
The “Ebisu sen” is praised as a good-luck charm for wallets. The Ebisu-sen is money borrowed from Ebisu-sama. It is used as business capital. The money is doubled and returned the next year. This shows gratitude for a year of good fortune. You return the Ebisu Sen after one year to receive a new one.
The water of the “chouzuya” comes from the mouth of an auspicious sea bream. The chouzuya is a Shinto place for ritual cleansing. The water used here is “Matsubara Water”. It comes from a well dug in the early Meiji Period. This was done to secure good-quality drinking water.
Remember Takeuchi Goemon. He found a statue and started something amazing. The Toka Ebisu Jinja Shrine is a place of luck, prosperity, and tradition.