Students crawl through Aichi shrine’s mini-gate for testing success

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:45 JST, January 8, 2023

A high schooler crawls through a small torii gate at a shrine in Konan, Aichi Prefecture. The Kitano Tenjin Shrine is dedicated to ancient poet Sugawara no Michizane, who was deified as the god of learning. The gate is 50 centimeters long and 40 centimeters wide. It is believed that if you pass through the gate with an ema wooden votive tablet in your hands, your wish will be granted, and many students visit the shrine every year to pray for success. “I somehow managed to pass through the gate. I want to get good luck from Michizane to pass the exam,” said Jin Hayakawa, the high school student from Konan.