The three bridges represent “past, present and future.” Let's think about Michizane's life while crossing the bridges after visiting the main sanctuary.
Born into a family of scholars, Michizane was five when he started Waka Japanese poetry and eleven when he started Kanshi Chinese poetry. He passed the national exam at the age of eighteen, rose to the top of his class at age 23, and by 33 he was recognized as a scholar of the highest level. As a diplomat he impressed Chinese visitors with his unmatched Chinese poetry skills.
At the age of 42, Michizane was appointed as governor of Sanuki Province. He grew to be a respected leader as he listened to the voices of the local farmers, assisting to set up a rice granary and thus avoiding famine. With his success in Sanuki, the Emperor started to take notice and decided to promote Michizane, asking him to return to Kyoto. At the same time, a powerful man by the name of Tokihira Fujiwara of the Fujiwara clan grew jealous of Michizane and his success.
One day, the Emperor named Tokihira Fujiwara as his first in command and Michizane Sugawara as his second in command and said, “I’ll leave it up to you two,” only to retire shortly after. But the only reason Michizane was there in the first place was because of that Emperor, so without his support he was left vulnerable to the plotting schemes of Tokihira. As he expected, Tokihira managed to get Michizane removed from the position of Minister of the Right.
By the way, if you look at the Shinji-ike Pond from above, it looks like the Kanji for “spirit,” “心(kokoro)”. It’s said that walking over a body of water cleanses your body and spirit, so visitors of the main sanctuary will cross over the Taiko-bashi bridge to purify themselves before worship.
According to some theories, he rebelled against the new emperor by trying to promote someone else to become emperor. Well, I wonder...
Let’s try to imagine the kind of person Michizane was-- immersed in his studies, the days came and went. “I need more time to study, I don’t have time for friends or family.” “I thought I could practice the scholarly art of koto, but I better focus on my poetry instead.” In a few words: stoic and sensitive. But also an introvert, as he completely isolated himself from the outside world.
Somehow, that same introvert was a bit of a loud mouth. He had no filter, no matter who he was talking to. When he was governor of Sanuki Province, he wrote a letter to Tokihara saying, “Don’t embarrass yourself by boycotting the government like this.” He said that to someone as untouchable as Tokihira. I can’t say his brute honesty did him any good as a politician. Rather, it was probably what ended his career.
So, what do you think? You can still find most of his poetry these days, so why don’t you check it out and make your own image of Michizane.
