Wazuka Tenmangu Shrine

Wazuka Tenmangu is the largest shrine in Wazuka, dedicated to Tenjin, the deity of scholarship, with a main sanctuary built in 1348 and designated a National Important Cultural Property. The shrine's founding may relate to Wazuka's history as an agricultural estate connected first to Kofukuji Temple in Nara and later to Kitano Tenmangu, the main Tenjin shrine in Kyoto. Statues of oxen, sacred messengers of Tenjin, stand around the grounds, and large votive tablets dating from 1856 onward hang in the prayer hall. Each October, a harvest festival brings portable shrines through the community and fills the grounds with food stalls for residents and visitors.