Chrysanthemum Exhibition at Dazaifu Tenmangu

Sugawara no Michizane, revered as the deity of learning, is said to have loved chrysanthemums, and his life is closely bound to the Choyo festival: at the Zangiku banquet held at court the day after Choyo, he composed the poem "Autumn Thoughts" and was granted a robe by Emperor Daigo. Dazaifu Tenmangu's chrysanthemum exhibition honours that association, mounted by the Shuhokai, a society of local growers. Blooms tended through a full year — large-flowered specimens, fukusuke figures trained from small chrysanthemums, and cascading kengai that fall like waterfalls — are set out before the main hall and along the corridors and Tenjin Hiroba. Where most chrysanthemum shows are competitions, here the flowers are presented as offerings to the deity. The run is November 1 to 25 each year, with seedlings and cut flowers on sale, coinciding with the turning of the autumn leaves in the precincts.