Recorded Joy·Rakutō / Kitashirakawa

Shirakawa-me Monument and Shrine

The Kitashirakawa district was known as a village of white stone and flowers: by tradition the men worked as stonemasons, the women as Shirakawa-me, sellers of flowers. The Shirakawa-me are said to have carried their blossoms on their heads, walking them through the streets of the capital. Kitashirakawa Tenshingū, which enshrines Sukunabikona-no-mikoto as the district's tutelary deity, is said to have been moved to its present site by the eighth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa during the building of his Higashiyama villa. The stonemasons of Shirakawa left their craft in the bridge that stands before the shrine.

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These notes come from desk research. Local traditions vary.