Wazuka Tenmangu Shrine 和束天満宮（パンフレット）

Official explanation

Wazuka Tenmangu is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Tenjin, the deity of scholarship. Tenjin is the deified spirit of Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), an accomplished poet, academic, and statesman who was exiled by his political rivals. A series of disasters after his death led to the belief that Michizane had become a vengeful spirit. Eventually, that spirit was thought to have been pacified by being elevated to the status of a deity, and several thousand shrines dedicated to Tenjin have been founded since.

The history of Wazuka Tenmangu may have begun in the twelfth century, when Wazuka was administered as an agricultural estate of Kitano Tenmangu, the head Tenjin shrine in Kyoto. The current main sanctuary, constructed in 1348, is decorated with statues of oxen, the sacred messengers of Tenjin. The sanctuary is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property.

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Subsidiary shrines on the grounds allow visitors to pray to many commonly revered deities in one place. The main sanctuary is flanked by such shrines on both sides, with Goryo Shrine being the most relevant to Tenjin worship; Watarai no Haruhiko, an elderly priest who remained loyal to Sugawara no Michizane despite his exile, is enshrined within. On the southern and northern sides of the pilgrimage path, there are also small shrines dedicated to gods of prosperity and commerce, sake brewing, and the safety of the nation.

Access

Walk 2 minutes from the Higashi Wazuka bus stop. Parking is available for cars and bicycles.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.