Miyajidake Shrine

This guide to Miyajidake Shrine in Fukuoka starts on the approach road, where griddles fry matsugae mochi, a sticky rice cake stamped with the shrine's pine crest. It traces the shopkeepers' quiet rivalry with the more famous plum-shaped mochi sold down the coast at Dazaifu, and the unchanged family method behind the cakes sold along the sando. Order it white, or ask for the mugwort version, and eat it standing, the way the regulars do.