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Photo: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The burial place of famed haiku poet Matsuo Bashō, of Narrow Road to the Deep North fame. The temple is 300 m away from JR Zeze Station (膳所駅), one stop from Otsu on the JR Tokaido Line.
Gichū-ji (義仲寺) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in the Baba neighborhood of the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Its honzon is a statue of Shō-Kannon Bosatsu. It contains the grave of the late Heian period warlord Kiso Yoshinaka and the Edo period poet Matsuo Basho. Its precincts were designated a National Historic Site in 1967.
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三井寺
近江神宮
An attractive shrine dedicated to Emperor Tenji as an imperial shrine. It has strong associations with the origins of the karuta game and it hosts the National Karuta Championships every year.
建部大社
This was once the head shrine of Omi Province.
石山寺
This temple was founded in 749 and the hondō (main hall) is the oldest building in Shiga Prefecture built 850 years ago. Inside the hondo, in the room on the right, is the "Genji Room" where it is believed Murasaki Shikibu wrote her famous book "Tale of Genji", considered to be the world's first novel. The temple precincts are quite large, with a 750 year old pagoda and Muyū-en Garden (無憂園) among other things. The pathway leading to the temple is lined with cherry trees, making it especially beautiful in the spring and autumn. For those traveling on the Saigoku 33 Kannon Temple Pilgrimage, Ishiyama-dera is number 13.
日吉大社
延暦寺
The head temple of Tendai Buddhism and a World Heritage Site located atop Mount Hiei.