Dazaifu Tenmangu Omotesando (umegae-mochi)

photo by そらみみ · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Karl Baron · CC BY 2.0

Legend: an old woman hid Michizane in a mortar, then brought rice on a plum branch.

If you walk along the street that leads to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, you still find shops selling umegae-mochi, the sweet whose name (literally ‘plum branch’) comes from the legend that explains it: an old woman hid Michizane, who was fleeing assassins, inside a mortar covered with a freshly washed sash, and then secretly brought him rice fermented with koji (the mould also used for sake, the Japanese rice wine) on a plum branch.

The Omotesando is the approach to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, lined with shops selling umegae-mochi. The woman of the legend is venerated as Jōmyō-ni and has a small shrine behind the Enoki Shrine; during the main ceremonies of Dazaifu Tenmangu, the sacred procession pays its respects to her first.

🚉 Dazaifu · 3 min walk

Sources: dazaifu-bunka.or.jp

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