Hofu Tenmangu

Hofu Tenmangu in Hofu, Yamaguchi, is counted with Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto and Dazaifu Tenmangu in Fukuoka as one of the three great Tenjin shrines, and is traditionally the oldest Tenmangu, founded in 904, the year after the death of Sugawara no Michizane. The site stands on the southern foot of Tenjin-yama beside the Suo provincial capital ruins. The main deity is Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), with the Sugawara ancestral deity Ame no Hohi no Mikoto and other ancestral deities enshrined alongside. Ame no Hohi appears in Kojiki (712 CE) as a deity born of the Ukei oath between Amaterasu and Susanoo, and the Shinsen Shojiroku traces the Sugawara genealogy from this deity. Through the medieval and early modern periods the shrine received the patronage of the Ouchi and Mori clans. The November 23-24 Goshinko-sai (Hadakabo Festival) is one of the three great rough festivals of western Japan and a Yamaguchi prefectural intangible folk cultural property.