Offerings at the shrine have doubled yet again.
The rooftop of Palaceside Building is recognized as a pioneering rooftop garden. On clear weekdays from 11:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., it is open to the public and has become a small retreat for office workers and other visitors.
On that rooftop stands Mainichi Shrine, enshrined to pray for the safe round-the-world flight of the Mainichi Newspapers company plane "Nippon-go." We introduced it in this blog on January 26. On March 26 we reported that offerings in the small box in front of the shrine had doubled compared with seven months earlier. Before the Mainichi Shrine annual festival on October 19, The Mainichi Newspapers, which manages the shrine, counted the contents again and found roughly twice as much as in March — nearly four times the total from just over a year ago. Those involved are said to be astonished.
One striking change is the number of 1,000-yen notes, which has multiplied several times over compared with previous counts. Ten-yen coins still topped the coin count, but 50-yen coins have increased and now nearly match the ten-yen total. Offerings at Mainichi Shrine appear to be trending with inflation.
Why the surge? The shrine enshrines Amaterasu Omikami and Oyamakui no Mikoto, and holds omamori charms for the safe round-the-world flight of "Nippon-go." Because the plane overcame many difficulties to complete its feat, some believe visitors — especially exam candidates praying to pass — came seeking the reputed benefit of "absolutely no falling!" as noted in the January 26 post. Pray at Mainichi Shrine, and whether exams, school grades, or corporate performance, your wish that things "absolutely not fall!" might just be answered.