Mt. Tenpai

Standing at 258 meters in Chikushino, Mt. Tenpai is central to the mythology surrounding Sugawara Michizane, the ninth-century scholar exiled to Dazaifu and later deified as the patron of learning. According to legend, Michizane climbed to the peak during a storm to plead his innocence before heaven, and the Shito Falls at the mountain's base is where he purified himself beforehand. The mountain plays a key role in Dazaifu Tenmangu's most important annual festival, during which participants collect purifying sand at the falls before a ceremonial procession. Stone monuments engraved with Michizane's poetry mark the trail up.