Michizane Dies at Dazaifu

Sugawara no Michizane died at Dazaifu in 903, about two years after being removed as Minister of the Right and sent away from the central court. He had not regained his office. His burial established the site around which Dazaifu Tenmangū subsequently developed.

Shrine history dates a small place of worship at the grave to 905 and a larger sanctuary to 919. A later reconstruction in 1591 produced the present main sanctuary. The buildings belong to the community's successive care for the burial site, rather than to construction directed by Michizane himself.

The shrine tradition tells of an ox drawing the cart with his body and stopping at the place chosen for burial. This account became part of the sacred history of the site. It records how later worshippers understood the grave's location; it is not independent proof of a final instruction spoken by Michizane or of his control over events after death.