Source: Tenmangu goden kiryaku, by Hirata Atsutane (1820) with illustrations by Kuwagata Keisai

Illustration of the oracle given at Omi, a province just east of Kyoto. It was received by the seven year old son of Miwa no Yoshitane, a Shinto priest. According to the oracle, the thunder demons--all 105,000 of them--were Michizane's followers and he could send them to punish disbelievers. However, Michizane promised to reward those who believed in and worshipped him. Michizane lamented that he was not worshipped like other Shinto deities, such as Kamo, Hachiman, and Hie, and requested a shrine be dedicated to him at Kitano. As a sign of where the shrine should be located, he promised that pine trees would grow there and miraculously a thousand pines grew overnight (for more on this aspect of the story, see the picture of Michizane saying farewell to his plum tree).

This is the version of the founding legend put forth by the Shinto priest Miwa no Yoshitane and Tendai priest Saichin; it excludes the shamaness Ayako from playing any role in the founding of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine.