Still there

Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, November 2018

Detail:

It is...probably the only department store in Japan, and maybe the world, to have its own goddess. Standing on the ground floor and rising through the open center of the building, is five‐story‐high statue of Tennyo, the Goddess of Sincerity. According to a Mitsukoshi brochure, “the figure represents the goddess descending lightly to the fruitful earth, wrapped in a rainbow‐colored cloud and accompanied by a beautiful phoenix.” Sincerity is cherished virtue in Japan and can cover a multitude of sins. One can be forgiven many errors if only he has been acting sincerely.

- Richard Halloran, New York Times, 11/18/73

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