May 5 is Children’s Day. So we’re bringing this to you with a Children’s Day kind of flavor.
Looking for a training spot where it wouldn’t get crowded, we headed to Najio.
Right in front of us, we spotted a set of steep stairs. The moment we instinctively thought, “I want to do stair sprints here,” we realized it was “Najio Hachiman Shrine”.
Soaking in the solemn atmosphere, we took a relaxed stroll around the shrine grounds and paid our respects.

Doesn’t this make you want to sprint up the stairs?
But this is a shrine.
So we climbed the stairs one step at a time, taking each step with care.

This is the view from the top.
It’s the view from a shrine that has watched over Najio, the village of washi paper.

This is the main hall.
The year “Najio Hachiman Shrine” was founded is unknown, but it is believed to date back to before the Bunmei era (1469–1486).
That means it’s a venerable shrine with around 550 years of history!

It’s not just the shrine itself—the chairs also have a sense of history and character.

There were lots of ema prayer plaques for academic success!
Let’s take a look at a few.

Let’s do our best and not lose to COVID!
We’re rooting for you!!

“Hissan” is hard, isn’t it!
I want to go teach you!

Sensei once spent time hitchhiking while holding a sign that was supposed to say “To Morioka!” but was mistakenly written as “To Morioka!” with the wrong kanji. A kind driver told me, “Hey, bro, you’ve got it wrong!” After that, I never made that mistake again!
To get smarter, it’s important to make lots of mistakes, right?^^

You can become one.

Najio Hachiman Shrine was a warm and wonderful shrine♪
Finally

Watch out for bees!!!!
Here it is on the map↓


















