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Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
Hiyoshi Taisha (日吉大社) is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture Japan. This shrine is one of the Twenty-Two Shrines. Known before World War II as Hiei Taisha (日枝大社) or Hie jinja, "Hiyoshi" is now the preferred spelling. It was also known as the Sanno Gongen (山王権現). The head shrine in Ōtsu heads the seventh largest shrine network in Japan, with approximately 3800 Hiyoshi, Hie, and Sannō shrines nationwide. Torii of this shrine have a distinctive configuration, known as the "Sannō torii", with a triangle-shaped element above the main crossbeam. The 400,000 square meter precincts centered is designated as a National Historic Site, and the east and west main shrine buildings, the Nishi Hongū (西本宮) and Higashi Hongū (東本宮) are designated as National Treasures, and many of the structures in the precincts are designated as National Important Cultural Properties.
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延暦寺
The head temple of Tendai Buddhism and a World Heritage Site located atop Mount Hiei.
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.
三井寺
義仲寺
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.
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.