Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine

A Tenmangu Shrine Said to Date from 1226

Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine (水田天満宮, Mizuta Tenmangū) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane in Mizuta, Chikugo City, Fukuoka Prefecture, said to have been founded in 1226; its Tower Gate, East Gate and West Gate were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan on August 6, 2025. Edo-period records also call it Mizuta Tenjin, and the shrine describes itself as one of the two great Tenmangu shrines of Kyushu, the other being Dazaifu Tenmangu.

Michizane (845 to 903) was a court scholar and statesman who died in exile at Dazaifu and came to be worshipped as Tenjin, a patron of learning. According to the Fukuoka Prefecture cultural property database, shrine tradition holds that Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine was founded by Sugawara no Tamenaga, one of his descendants, on the order of Emperor Go-Horikawa. The land had been an estate of Anrakuji, the temple attached to Dazaifu Tenmangu, and Michizane's descendants retired here from Dazaifu over the generations.

Sources differ on the era year. The prefectural database gives the second year of the Karoku era (1226), while texts from Chikugo City and the prefectural tourism site say the third year, still paired with 1226. This page follows the prefectural database.

The Main Hall and Stone Monuments of Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine

A wooden placard dates the present main hall of Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine to a rebuilding in 1672. It is a three-bay Nagare-zukuri hall roofed with cypress bark, with a cusped kara-hafu porch at the front and carriage porches on both sides. Fukuoka Prefecture notes that the form follows the main hall of Dazaifu Tenmangu, and the hall was designated a prefectural Tangible Cultural Property in 1961.

Halfway along the approach stands a granite torii of the Hizen type, 4.6 meters tall with 3.8 meters between the pillars; the lintels and pillars are each pieced together from three stones. An inscription records that Tanaka Tadamasa, second lord of the Yanagawa domain, donated it in 1614. Inside a fence behind the main hall sits a pair of stone guardian dogs, 55 centimeters tall, inscribed with the year 1610.

Within the grounds is also Koinoki Shrine, a subsidiary shrine to Koi no Mikoto, a deity of love; Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine says it is the only shrine in Japan dedicated to this deity.

Three Gates on Three Sides of Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine

All three registered buildings at Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine are gates. The Tower Gate faces south at the main entrance to the grounds, the East Gate opens at the middle of the east side, and the West Gate opens on the west side. Visitors arriving along the approach pass through the Tower Gate; those coming from the side streets use the East or West Gate.

The West Gate was built in 1851 and the East Gate in 1868, while the Tower Gate is dated to the late Edo period and was repaired in 2000. All three are timber structures roofed with hongawara tiles. The Tower Gate is a two-story gate with an Irimoya-zukuri roof; the East and West Gates are Shikyakumon, four-legged gates with gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roofs.

The three gates carry consecutive registration numbers, 40-0238 to 40-0240, and were registered on the same day in the 110th round of registrations. The Tower Gate and the East Gate qualified for contributing to the historic landscape of the country; the West Gate qualified as a model of design. The recommendation of the Council for Cultural Affairs on March 21, 2025 already presented them together as the Tower Gate, East Gate and West Gate of Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine.

The address appears in several forms. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives 64-1 Kamimachi, Mizuta for all three gates; the shrine's website gives 62-1 Mizuta for its office, and Chikugo City's event pages give 56 Mizuta. The basic information on each gate's page follows the Agency.

Sentomyo and Chigo Furyu at Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine

The best-known event at Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine is the Sentomyo, the festival of a thousand lamps, held every year on August 25. Split bamboo is lashed into frames, a dab of clay is pressed onto each knot, and a scallop shell or unglazed saucer filled with oil is set on top; after dark the whole precinct is lit. The frames are shaped into shrine buildings, torii and other forms. The Sentomyo is an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikugo City notes that an evening fair is held on the plaza in front of the Tower Gate, and the lamps are lit and fireworks launched at 8:00 p.m.

On October 25, during the shrine's procession festival, children perform the Chigo Furyu, a dance said to date from the Muromachi period. Grouped by age, they play hand drums, gongs and drums while chanting "Ha-enya-ai" around Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine. This too is a prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Getting to Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine and Visiting

The nearest station to Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine is Hainuzuka on the JR Kagoshima Main Line. From the station, take Nishitetsu Bus route 8 (Hainuzuka Line) bound for Onojima Nokyo-mae and get off at Mizuta Tenmangu Koinoki Jinja-mae. Only afternoon buses run via this stop; Chikugo City's timetable, updated in March 2025, lists the first departure from Hainuzuka Station at 12:10 p.m.

By car or taxi, the shrine is about 5 minutes from Hainuzuka Station, about 8 minutes from Chikugo-Funagoya Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen, and about 10 minutes from the Yame Interchange on the Kyushu Expressway. Mizuta Tenmangu Shrine has a parking lot.

The grounds are open for worship at any time, and the prefectural database lists viewing of the main hall as unrestricted. No admission fee is mentioned in any of the sources consulted. Inquiries go to the shrine office (tel. 0942-53-8625). The Tower Gate, East Gate and West Gate all stand at entrances to the grounds, so their exteriors can be seen on the way in or out. Each gate has its own page with details on what to look for.