Traveling Info

In English mean Bullfinch Exchange A year of happiness secured by a golden bird. A wooden bird bringing good luck by turning last year's lies into this year's truths. Date:January 7th Place:Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine City:Saifu, Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture This is an event held at the shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) who is familiarly called Tenjin-sama. Dazaifu Tenmangu is the shrine which was constructed at the very spot where Michizane died. People receive wooden dolls carved in the shape of uso (bullfinch), known as a lucky bird, and pray for good fortune. The bullfinch is believed to be Tenjin-sama's messenger. These dolls are also sold at Yushima Tenjin Shrine and Kameido Tenjin Shrine in Tokyo, where long queues form to buy them. Sugawara no Michizane was a scholar, poet and politician of the Heian Period, and is worshipped as a god of learning in Japan. He was an honest man, never telling lies and some say that the origin of usokae comes from th...

The festival named Tamaseseri Festival is celebrated in the 3rd day of the month of January and the venue is Hakozaki Shrine located in the Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City. In this fest, men wearing (only) loincloths fight for an 8 kg treasure ball, which is 30 cm in diameter. The ball is known to bring good fortune on men who are able to lift it over their head. These men are divided into the Land Team and the Sea Team. The first team consisting of farmers working on the land and the second team includes fishermen working at sea. The fate of the harvest or large catch for fishermen is mostly determined by the fact as to which team wins the competition and hands the ball over to the Shinto priest. This festival is one of the 3 most important fests of the land and has a history of 500 years. It’s known to originate from the legend of the dragon god (ryujin) offering two balls to Empress Jingu. In the afternoon 2 purified balls, which represent masculinity and femininity respectively known as ‘...