Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

Kitano Tenmangu, located in Bakuro-cho, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, is one of the head Tenmangu shrines alongside Dazaifu Tenmangu, enshrining Sugawara no Michizane (845-903). Michizane served Uda and Daigo Tenno as Minister of the Right but was demoted to Dazaifu in 901 through the slander of Fujiwara no Tokihira and died there in 903. The natural disasters and epidemics that followed were attributed to his angry spirit, and he was deified as a Tenjin in his memory. According to tradition, the shrine was founded in 947 through oracles delivered to the priest Kanyoshitane of Hira-no-miya in Omi and to Tajihi no Ayako. The first imperial festival was held in 987, and Michizane was posthumously awarded Junior First Rank and Daijo Daijin in 993. The current honden of gongen-zukuri style was rebuilt in 1607 under Toyotomi Hideyori with Katagiri Katsumoto as commissioner, and is a National Treasure. The plum blossom festival on February 25 marks Michizane's death anniversary.