Otoguma Tenmangu

 

A copse of tall, old trees rising from the middle of an expanse of fields is often a sure signifier of the location of a shrine.

The banners flying, in this case for the Hatsumode period of the new year is another sign.

Otoguma is another tiny settlement, in southern Fukuoka, and the small local shrine is a mere 250 meters from a neighboring village shrine, Shisojima Tenmangu, and this is yet another Tenmangu.

In 1884 a couple of more kami were added to the shrine. This was a time of great changes in the religious landscape of japan due to the separation of the buddhas and the kami. In 1918 some more were added and this may have been a result of the shrine closure-merger program.