The ritual consists of collecting plums from the “Tobiume (flying plum tree),” which is said to have flown overnight from Kyoto in honor of Sugawara Michizane, the deity of Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. The priest shakes the branches of the flying plum tree with green bamboo, and then shrine maidens pick up the fallen plum seeds one by one. After plums are dedicated to the deity, they are made into “Tobiume Omamori,” a once-in-a-lifetime good-luck charm. After the ritual is over, priests, priestesses, and staff members simultaneously pick the plum from the 6,000 plum trees in the shrine’s precincts.
• 5/18 (Wed.)
• 9:00~
• Free viewing
• Dazaifu Tenmangu Honden
• 4-7-1 Saifu, Dazaifu City, Fukuoka
• https://www.dazaifutenmangu.or.jp/info/detail/809
