Matsushima Shrine

Matsushima Shrine’s constant stream of visitors bears credence to its rep as a popular worshipping place for Daikokusama, one of Nihonbashi’s Seven Lucky Gods. With shrine records destroyed during both the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and Second World War, exact timing of the shrine’s establishment can’t be verified; however, it’s estimated that Matsushima dates back to before the Genko era, 1321. At this time, the area was an island densely populated by pine trees, hence the shrine’s name: matsu (meaning ‘pine’) and shima (meaning ‘island’). The shrine offers a rare variety of O-fuda (small tablets on which requests or words of religious significance are written) called Ryomu-fuda. It’s said these peculiar fuda induce dreaming when placed underneath a pillow at night. Also popular are small arrow-shaped Omikuji (written fortunes).