Dazaifu Tenmangu

Dazaifu Tenmangu (Dazaifu Tenmangu) stands in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and together with Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto is one of the two head shrines of the nationwide Tenjin (Tenmangu) network. The shrine enshrines Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), who, according to both the Nihon Shoki successor chronicles and the Engishiki-era records of his banishment, was demoted to Dazai-no-Gon-no-Sochi in 901 CE and died at Dazaifu in 903 CE. According to shrine tradition, the priest Umasake-no-Yasuyuki built the original sanctuary in 905 CE at the place where Michizane's funeral ox stopped and refused to move, and the present shrine was established by imperial decree in 919 CE. The vermilion main hall, rebuilt by Kobayakawa Takakage in 1591, is an Important Cultural Property. The plum-blossom festival in February and the Jinkoshiki autumn festival continue Tenjin ritual cycles shared with Kitano Tenmangu.