Nov 17, 2013 - 1 min read

Tokyo Yushima Seido Hall

Now a shrine, in the past a school

By Tomoko Kamishima

Community writer

Tokyo Medical and Dental University is located just next to the hall

Walls of Yushima Seido Hall is along the Kanda River

Yushima Seido Hall, located in Ochanomizu, Tokyo, is now recognized as a shrine of Confucius, worshipped as the God of learning. When Japan's entrance exam season comes, huge numbers of students and their families visit here and offer up their prayers. In the Edo era, it was a place to explore the teachings of Confucianism. In 1690, the fifth Shogun, Tsunayoshi Tokugawa, established Yushima Seido Hall to encourage students to study Confucianism. Repeated fires demolished the buildings and eventually most of the land, which used to be part of the school have today become part of the campus of Tokyo Medical and Dental University.