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The place is enshrined both
“a God of Japanese medicine ‘Sukunahikona ‘” and “the Father of Chinese
medicine and tea ‘Shennong’”. As
you know, tea was considered to be one of medicine in the old time. The
area is still known as the medicine district because some headquarters or
branches of well-known pharmaceutical companies are located. Since tea is not
regarded as a medicine anymore, we cannot find any remnants of tea such
as tea-related archives or goods.
Every
year, “Shinno Festival” is held on Nov 22nd and 23rd at the shrine. Lots of people
visit there during the festival to pray for their health, but most of them don’t
know the connection with tea. However, for
some tea-lovers, this shrine is still “a Mecca of tea".
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“Shennong is credited with identifying
hundreds of medical (and poisonous) herbs by personally testing their
properties, which was crucial to the development of Traditional Chinese
medicine. Legend has it that Shennong had a transparent body and thus
could see the effects of different plants and herbs on himself. Tea, which acts
as an antidote against the poisonous effects of some seventy herbs, is also said
to be his discovery. This discovery is in 2737 B.C., according to which
Shennong first tasted tea from tea leaves on burning tea twigs, which were
carried up from the fire by the hot air, and landed in his cauldron of boiling
water.
"(extraction from Wikipedia)
