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Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Otsu, Japan
Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine
Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine was founded about 2,100 years ago at the foot of Mount Hiei. When Enryaku-ji Temple opened on Mount Hiei and the Tendai sect rose to prominence, Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine became the head shrine for the Sanno Shinto sect with some 3,800 shrines throughout Japan. Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine is sometimes called Sanno (“mountain king”), referring to its importance at Mount Hiei.
With the monkey as a divine messenger, Sanno provides the benefits of warding off evil and ensuring success. Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537-98), the shogun who united Japan, having the childhood name Hiyoshi-maru and the nickname of monkey, considered Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine important.
Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine was burned to ashes when the shogun Nobunaga Oda (1534-82) attacked Mount Hiei. After his death, Toyotomi is said to have worked to restore the shrine. The Three Bridges of Hiyoshi, said to be gifts from Toyotomi, are the oldest stone bridges in Japan and are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The compound, which extends 400,000 square meters in area, has a picturesque forest through which the Omiya River flows and is dotted with a great many shrines boasting excellent examples of aesthetic architecture.
Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine is particularly beautiful in fall and is a wonderful, though lesser-known location for viewing the changing autumn colors when the trees complement the magnificent shrine buildings.
Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine
Open hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission:
- Adults: 300 yen
- Elementary school students: 150 yen
Address: 5-1-1 Sakamoto, Otsu, Shiga Prefecture > Map
URL: http://hiyoshitaisha.jp/ – Japanese
Phone: +81-(0)77-578-0009
Access:
- Take the Keihan Electric Railway Ishiyama Sakamoto Line to Sakamoto-hieizanguchi station. It is a 10-minute walk.
- Take the JR Kosei Line to Hieizan Sakamoto Station. It is a 20-minute walk.
source: Keihan Railway
