In 1587, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was encamped at Hakozaki Shrine after completing the subjugation of Kyushu, he recited waka poetry with military commanders such as Kodera Kyumu (uncle of Kuroda Josui, whose son became the ruler of Fukuoka Domain), and held tea gatherings with renowned tea master Sen no Rikyu and wealthy Hakata merchant Kamiya Sotan, among others. Legend has it that at the orders of Hideyoshi, Rikyu slung a chain over the branches of a pine tree in this area and from it hung a small iron kettle bearing a design of a dragon in the clouds. He then gathered up the pine needles strewn across the white sands and used them as fuel to boil water for tea.
(Hospital Campus)