Note:
(a) The last photo in this CNA (Central News Agency) report is 御神牛 go-shin-yu in
太宰府天満宮 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/太宰府天満宮
(located at 福岡県太宰府市宰府; 菅原道真 is the 祭神 and worshiped)
This Wiki page shows a photo of just the most famous ox statue, although there are eleven other ox statues on the premises of the shrine. (shrine 神社 or 宮 of Shinto v temple 寺 of Buddhism)
(b)
(i) Dazaifu Tenmangū https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazaifu_Tenmangū
(section 1 Shrine legend)
(ii) 大宰府 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大宰府
Photo 1 shows the 大宰府 in 福岡県太宰府市 is long gone, marked by 石碑. Section 1 名称 says 大宰 was a local official 地方行政長官 who governs several provinces 国. Taihō Code of 701 大宝律令 (so named because it was promulgated in 大宝元年 (701 AD) ) abolished all such positions except the one on present-day City of Dazaifu -- hence when referring to 大宰府 it is generally means the one in 福岡県.
The Chinese pronunciation of kanji 大 is da-i or ta-i. Presumably the da is a shorthand of da-i.
(c)
(i) Rockyの歴史の散歩道 (blog), 太宰府天満宮と１２頭の牛. 航空自衛隊 西部航空方面隊 Western Air Defense Force (WADF), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF, but the URL omits J), Ministry of Defense (MOD), undated https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/wadf/rocky/sampomichi/rocky6.html
(A) 散歩 in Japan means the same as in China: stroll.
(B) Originally there was just one px carrying Michizane's body. Presently the shrine has twelve version of the same bull.
(ii) 太宰府天満宮「御神牛像」の頭を撫でると知恵を授かる. 太宰府天満宮, undated
太宰府天満宮.com/113.html
The title says: Caressing the bull head will confer wisdom. The inscription underneath the bull indicates: "奉献 御神牛 昭和六十乙丑年"
(iii) Japanese-English dictionary:
* hōken 奉献 【ほうけん】 (n,v): "dedication; presentation; consecration; offer (to a shrine)"
^ 奉献式 (n): "dedicatory ceremony"
^ 奉献物
In other words, worshipers built and dedicated that particular bull statue in 1985 (昭和六十年).
(d)
(i) Sugawara no Michizane 菅原 道真 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugawara_no_Michizane
("Within the abdication of Emperor Uda [宇多天皇 (866 – 931; reign 887-897); ja.wikipedia.org says he suddenly abdicated 譲位 the throne to his eldest son], Michizane's position became increasingly vulnerable. In 901, through the political maneuverings of his rival, Fujiwara no Tokihira 筑前国, Michizane was demoted from his aristocratic rank of junior second to a minor official post at Dazaifu, in Kyūshū's Chikuzen 筑前国 Province, and died in exile" in 903)
There was a power struggle between two clans Fujiwara 藤原 ("lit[erally] 'Wisteria field' ": en.wikipedia.org) and Minamoto 源. Michizane sided with the latter (and Emperor Uda) against the former.
(ii) The name of SUGAWARA no Michizane
(A) The surname Sugawara is composed of suge and hara 原 (meaning plain, field). The "no" in name appeared only in ancient times. The michi is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 道 (a path), whereas the pronunciation of sane for kanji 真 is found in names only (and osftened to zane here)
(B) 菅 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/菅
("植物[:] カヤツリグサ科スゲ属（日本）")
スゲ属 (スゲ is pronounced suge) in English is either Carex genus (in biology) or sedge (in plain English). It is hard to know why Japanese were obsessed with the grass, which is found worldwide and was used in Japan to make 笠 and 蓑.
The kanji 菅 has suge as Japanese pronunciation and kan as Chinese pronunciation. So there is a still living politician Naoto KAN 菅 直人 (prime minister 2010-2011, at the time of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 民主党)