Every journey has a beginning and, unfortunately, an end—though of course we all want to put off the latter for as long as possible. And even later, when our last trip is already a distant memory, we prefer to look back on how it all began.
And that’s exactly what I’m doing now. I’ve dug out some photos from our last trip to Kyoto, and this time I’ve picked out a few that we took on the day we arrived. We’d already been on the road for quite a while, and our destination, the ancient imperial city of Kyoto, was now right in front of us. We still had a little bit to drive, but it felt like we were almost there.
We were now at Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, located in the center of the main island of Honshu. We had already left the highway and were driving along a fairly well-maintained country road on the west side of the lake, which kept coming into our view.
As I had noticed while looking at Google Maps, there was a shrine ahead of us that I absolutely wanted to visit. I had seen a few pictures that had immediately piqued my interest, and I decided that we would stop here. After all, our trip had now begun, and we were on the road and out and about to see things. And you simply can’t start that early enough.
Our first destination was Shirahige Shrine, located right on the shore of Lake Biwa. It is one of the oldest and most significant shrines in Shiga Prefecture and boasts a history spanning over 1,900 years. The name “Shirahige” translates to “white beard” and refers to the revered deity Sarutahiko no Ōkami, a Shinto god considered a guide and protector of travelers. It is said that many visitors come here to pray for safe travels, good health, and a long life.
The shrine’s landmark is its impressive red torii, which stands a few meters from the shore, right in the lake’s water. I had seen a photo of this torii before, and it was probably because of this gate that we decided to stop.
This “floating torii” sometimes looks as if it’s hovering above the lake, and reminds many visitors of the famous torii at Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island. The atmosphere at Shirahige Shrine, however, is much calmer and quieter, even though there were quite a few cars on the main road separating the shrine building and the torii that day.
It’s also not that easy to get to the other side of the street—to the lake side—so you have to settle for a picture from a distance. These didn’t turn out quite as well as I’d hoped due to the lighting conditions and my admittedly sometimes rather modest photography skills, but I tinkered with my photos a bit and maybe managed to get something out of them after all.
As mentioned, Shirahige Shrine is located directly on the western shore of Lake Biwa in the city of Takashima. In Japanese folklore, it is regarded as a place of renewal and transition. The various torii gates symbolically mark the boundary between the secular and spiritual worlds—like a gateway through which one mentally enters a sacred space.
Here we see the main building, whose entrance looks directly out onto the lake. It is rather small, at least considering that this is actually a famous shrine. But small is sometimes much more authentic than ostentatiously big, and therefore much more graceful. In the end, it is likely the interplay of nature, history, and spirituality that makes the Shirahige Shrine such a special place for many visitors.
Here we have a picture of the metal dragon—called Ryū (龍) in Japanese—which keeps order at the Temizuya, the ritual water basin. In Japan, dragons are regarded as powerful water creatures and protectors of sacred places, symbolizing purity, vitality, and the connection between heaven and earth. That is why many shrines often feature such a dragon fountain instead of a simple faucet—a sight that has served as a photo subject for me on several occasions. And for that, I pay the dragon my utmost respect every single time.
We then took a short walk through the shrine grounds, which are right next to the forest and the mountains. Yeah, our first stop was a nice start to everything we hoped to experience in the days ahead. That is why I had actually planned to stop here briefly on the way back, but unfortunately that didn’t work out. But we were here, and I took a few nice photos. And who knows, maybe we’ll manage to stop here again on our next trip to Kyoto. It might take a few more years, but I certainly would like that idea.
[//]:# (!worldmappin 35.27437 lat 136.01118 long On the way to Kyoto - Our first stop 👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan d3scr)
[//]:# (!pinmapple 35.27662 lat 136.01428 long d3scr)