This shrine has built up a reputation for granting wishes, but not in the way you want it to.

Though Shinto and Buddhism are classified as religions, many of their practices are considered to be more of a fun tradition by most people in Japan, a part of culture rather than a rule of life. That’s why no one really takes it all that seriously when they write their wishes for the new year on wooden ema boards or pick up their fortune from a shrine or temple.

▼ “Let’s see…’Please make me rich this year, thank you!'”

But there is one shrine that has a reputation for having real power: Yasui Konpiragu Shrine in Kyoto. The deities of this shrine specialize in breaking off bad connections in your life and forging good ones. The shrine has a “power stone monument”, which is 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) tall and 3 meters (9.8 feet) wide. It is said that the power of good passes through the hole in the middle of it, so if you recite your wish in your head and pass through the hole twice, then stick your written wish to the stone, your wish will come true.

https://twitter.com/saguzi/status/1023208873384075265

But Japanese netizens caution against making a wish lightly there. Several have had their wish granted, but, much like making a wish with a sly genie, their desires had unintended consequences. According to Twitter user Sayaka (@sayaka_u_u), making a wish at Yasui Konpiragu Shrine without being explicit with how you want it to be granted could be dangerous.

https://twitter.com/sayaka__u_u/status/1023054553107718144

“I saw on the Internet that you should be very prepared when you make a wish at Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, which is famous for breaking off bad connections in life, since it will grant your wish with force. But I didn’t really pay attention to that warning. My mother and I made wishes there; she wished, ‘Please get me away from this person at work I hate,’ and I wrote, ‘I want to be freed from this physique’.

My mom had an accident on the job, broke her arm and had to take off from work, then she ended up changing companies because the company she had been working for was a black company [a company where the workers are treated terribly]. I contracted gastroenteritis and was admitted to the hospital, but the doctors couldn’t figure out the cause. I lived off of an IV drip and fasted because I no longer wanted to eat any of the foods I used to like (fatty meats, heavily seasoned food, sweets, etc). Yasui Konpiragu Shrine is really scary.”

Sure, their desires were fulfilled, but only because Sayaka’s mother met with an accident, which ultimately got her away from her colleague, and Sayaka herself only lost weight because she had a stomach illness. Though their wishes came true, there weren’t altogether positive outcomes for either of them.

So clearly you shouldn’t take a visit to Yasui Konpiragu Shrine lightly; you get what you ask for there (and if you need even more proof…). In fact, a few more people who read Sayaka’s story shared their own tales of strange luck after making a wish there:

“I asked for the connection with a boss I hated to be cut, and after that they were transferred. Later I found out I would have to work with them again, so I though it was superstition. But just before I started I suddenly got sick and had to quit.”

“I made the same request as the mother, though the result wasn’t as bad. My company, which was considered extremely stable for that area, was suddenly bought up by a foreign company and completely restructured. After that there were lots of ups and downs, but I feel like I was guided to the light. It was scary, but in the end I’m grateful.. I won’t go again though lol”

“I went to Yasui Konpiragu Shrine and wished, ‘I don’t know what but please sever whatever connection I need to have severed.’ A few weeks later I was moved from a workplace I had no complaints about whatsoever and dropped into a devil’s office of swirling resentment.”

According to the shrine’s home page, the principal deity of Yasui Konpiragu is the Emperor Sutoku, who ruled in the 12th century, and who was “forced against his will to part with his favorite consort Awa no Naishi”. The shrine believes that Emperor Sutoku’s spirit helps the living avoid bad situations as well as reinforces strong relationships.

But there is also a legend that Emperor Sutoku turned into an onryo, or vengeful spirit, after his death. Perhaps that’s why the wishes come at a price, and why one netizen’s friend, who is apparently sensitive to the supernatural, refuses to go near the shrine.

▼ Maybe Seiji should take his amateur ghost-hunting skills there…

Whatever is behind it, if you chose to go to Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, just be careful what you wish for. You might get what you want, but at what cost?

Source: Twitter/@sayaku_u_u via Hachima Kiko, Yasui Konpiragu Shrine
Top Image: Pakutaso
Insert Images: Pakutaso (1, 2, 3)
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