Ushijima Tenmangu

Ushijima Tenmangu (牛嶋天満宮) is a Shinto shrine traditionally located in Saga Prefecture, a regional branch of the Tenmangu cult in northern Kyushu. The principal kami is Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), the Heian-period scholar and Minister of the Right who, after being slandered and exiled to Dazaifu, died there in 903 CE and was later deified as Tenman Daijizai Tenjin. The two head shrines of the Tenmangu cult are Dazaifu Tenmangu at his grave in Fukuoka and Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto, and the Saga shrines preserve regional branches established from the medieval period. The name Ushijima is likely connected to the tradition that the ox bearing Michizane's remains halted at the site of his burial.