Konosu Tenmangu enshrines Sugawara no Michizane, the celebrated Heian scholar who was exiled to Dazaifu in 901 through the machinations of Fujiwara no Tokihira, dying there in 903 at age 59. Deified after death as Japan's patron of learning, he is worshipped at Tenmangu shrines nationwide. Founded around 1680, this shrine has long guarded the academic culture of Konosu, a historic post town on the Nakasendo highway.