Masuda City Tourist Information Center

Tenjin

This piece is related to a story of Sugawara-no-Michizane who became a god of thunder.

Michizane was a real person in the early Heian Period (794-1185). He was a very talented person and became the Minister of the Right at a young age. The Minister of the Left, Fujiwara-no-Tokihira, envied Michizane’s talent and captured him. Michizane was demoted to Dazaifu, the regional government in Kyusyu. Though he was demoted, he continued to worry about the evil that Tokihira might commit against the Mikado. Michizane tur

his story came from the facts that many evil things happened in the palace after  Michizane’s death, like the early death of the prince’s, heavy lightning which caused a big fire on the palace, leading to a great drought which brought poor harvest. People believed those evil accidents were the divine punishment. In the end, the Mikado enshrined Michizane’s spirit as the god of thunder. There are many of Michizane’s shrines which are called ‘Tenmangu.”