Kanda / The Short Summary Introducing Kanda
Kanda is in the centeral part of
Tokyo and is the general name of the district such as Akihabara,Hitotsubashi, Iwamotocho, Ogawacho, Jinbocho, Surugadai., etc, so Kanda has some kinds of specialists stores, there are hundreds of book stores, sports shops, music shops, cd shops and electric appliance stores. Therefore anybody living around Tokyo goes there to search special goods to buy. And there are also some medical centers and universities. The reason why Kanda has them, Kanda has great accessibility, Yamanote, Keihin-Tohoku, Chuo, Sobu, Ginza,Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Toei-Shijuku line have their stations.
In 730, Kanda Myojin Shrin was built first at Otemachi (nearby Tokyo station)
by Ma-kanda-omi belonging to the Izumo Clan who were descendants of Onamuchi-no-mikoto,
the superstar in Kojiki (Japanese Myth and he is also called Okuninushi,
Daikoku-sama), so Onamuchi and his son Sukunahikona (he was also called
Ebisu-sama) were dedicated there. In 1309, the venerable Shinkyo of Jishu-sect
in Buddhism carefully dedicated Masakado Taira, the great samurai commander
in late
Heian period, to pacify. In
Sengoku Period (the Warring States Period),
Dokan Ota and Ujitsuna Hojo worshipped the gods in the shrine.
Since
Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder
Edo Bakufu moved in, many merchants from Kyoto and Osaka moved to the area southern
part of Kanda, and many craft men from Mikawa (the Eastern Aich Prefecture)
given Kanda to live.
In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara was happened, Ieyasu Tokugawa prayed
for his win the battle when he left
Edo. Then he of course won the battle in September 15th, it is the day of
the Kanda Matsuri Festa, and he got the position to rule the samurai society
in Japan. After that,
Tokugawa clan told the shrine to hold the festival forever as it gave us great luck.
In the late
Edo Period, the government opened Koubusho, the training center of martial arts in
Ogawacho. Genbukan, also training center of martial arts of Hokushin Ittoryu
was in Kanda.
In addition, Heiji Zenigata the main character of Zenigata Heiji Torimonocho (Detective Story) lived near Kanda Myojin Shrine. Of course it was a fiction, sometimes it gives us what Kanda might be.
参考
神田明神ホームページ
デジタル大辞林
ブリタニカ国際大百科事典
ウィッキペディア