Blog

This is former Biwako Hotel. It was built in 1934 as the first international tourist hotel in the pr...

This is the Shiga Prefectural Government Main Building. The current building was designed jointly by...

This is the Otsumatsuri Hikiyama Exhibition Pavilion. Otsu-matsuri is one of the three major lake pr...

This is Otsu Hyakuchokan. In the Edo Period [between the 17th and mid-19th centuries], Otsu was bust...

The Rokasensuisō Villa is a local residence of the Nihonga Master Yamamoto Shunkyo (the building is ...

Ōtsu is home to the third largest collection nationwide of Important Cultural Properties designated ...

Constructed in 1906, Nagara Shrine’s two-storied tower gate is a magnificent work from the Meiji era...

Mio Jinja shrine is said to date back to ancient times when Izanagi no Mikoto, Lord Izanagi, a deity...

Since it was built as “Otsu public hall” in 1934, its name and purpose has been changed ...

A study of the former Murakumo Imperial Palace in Saga Kyoto. In the 5th year of the Bunroku era (15...

This is the Front Gate and Gatekeeper post to Zairinbō, which is the Azukaribō of Gohōsha, Azukaribō...

In commemoration of the birth of the Miidera temple’s founder Chiso Daishi in 1150, it was ope...

Jizō-dō is placed on a rock between Nagara Jinja and Kannon-dō. According to a record of 1733 (19th ...

It is a simple six pillars building placed on a cliff on the east side of Kannon-dō ground. It is de...

Hexagonal mizuya, the temple or shrine building to wash hands and rinsing mouth. In the centre the i...

It is a simple and well balanced shōrō (belfry) with an hiwadabuki roof and a flared, skirt-like, lo...

It is the main gate of Miidera, built as an entrance to Minamiin. From middle age Miidera was divide...

Originally it was part of Fudō hall, the 14th fudasho of Kansai. In 1878 (11st year of Meiji Era), i...

Tō-in was built in the area of the mountain side of Kondo towards the Kannon-do, which is one step h...

It has been rebuilt in early Shōwa period on the foundation of the old shōdō. Inside are kept the sa...

It was started in the 1st year of Heiji Era, 1159, when Emperor Shirakawa’s son, Gyōkei Daisōj...

A hall that enshrines Kyōtai Ōshō, a priest known from the setsuwa (Japanese folktales) anthology Ko...

It is settled in a pond in front of the Shakado temple. It was erected by Yuikakubo Shushun in the 3...

It is a butaizukuri style building on Nagara Mountain side, designing a beautiful and soft line with...

The hall enshrines around Nyoirin Kannon statue, the 33 statues of Kannon of Kansai Kannon Pilgrimag...

It is the 14th temple of the Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage. The main deity is Nyoirin Kannon statue, whic...

It was built in 1616 (1st year of Genna Era) inside Bizōji’s area and was one of the Gobessho ...

Gobōzenjindō is a hall dedicated to the Kishimonjin, the deity of children and childbirth. Every yea...

It was donated by Tokugawa Ieyasu to Miidera in 1601 (6th year of Keichō Era). Originally it was the...

It is an elegant and refined building with an irimoyatsukuri hiwadabuki (hip and gable) style roof. ...

It is the main building of Tōin, Chishō Daishi’s mausoleum. It has a simple appearance with it...

One of the Eight Views of Omi. It is one of Mii’s famous big hanging temple evening bells, bui...

It is a comprehensive archive of Buddhist sutra and documents. Inside there is a kagami tenjō (mirro...

Akaiya consists in an accommodation prepared with flowers and water (Aka, the sacred Buddhist water)...

Simple residential style building with a hiwadabuki style roof. It’s been told that it was mov...

On the front gate we have a rōmon, a tower gate built in two levels with the hiwadabuki technique. O...

Along with Kōjōin Kyakuden is one of the best example of shoin. It is known as a model of shudenzuku...

Fine example of the shoin tsukuri, the origin of Japanese residential architecture. We are told that...

It is the center of the kitain of the Miidera. Fine example of nagare tsukuri style, this temple, co...

It is the main hall of Miidera. It is a majestic Buddhist hall with more than 23m of depth, famous a...

Built in the west of Daikoku Tendo, it is a gabled building with the embellishment facing the front....

In the first year of the Manju Era (1024), three monks dreamt of the revelation of the emerging Goho...

It is said that in the well in the south near the bottom of the main hall, water has been gushing ou...

This temple, which birthplace is in Ishiyama, has been contributed to in 2009 by Toray Industries, I...

As a part of Emperor Kazan’s Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage 1000 year revival commemoration event, ...

The tearoom right next to the single-storied house Tsukimi-tei is Bash_’s hermitage. It is sai...

On the East side of this temple, South of the Bishamondo is the Kannondo, built facing West. At the ...

Multi-storied pagodas built to rise above wollastonite were donated to Minamoto no Yoritomo and we k...

This is a log storehouse that has been built in the 16th century, and it is the oldest log storehous...

It is a Shinto shrine within Ishiyamadera Temple dedicated to Emperor Tenji’s successive emper...

The bell tower built to face the scripture house on the east side of the main hall is thought to hav...

It is the main gate of Ishiyamadera temple, facing East along the Seta River. According to the templ...

On the East side of this temple resides the Bishamondō Temple, built on the West face of the North s...

It is said to have been built for Emperor Go-Shirakawa’s Imperal visits, and one can enjoy the...

The current Rennyo holy priest who is enshrined at the Renyō-dō, is an edifice that was built with k...

It is a hall that enshrines the founder of the Shingon sect Kōbō-Daishi and the portrait of third ge...

It is reported that the place where Murasaki Shikibu retired and started to write “The Genji Monogat...

This is the oldest wooden building of the Shiga Prefecture. Its main hall (inner temple) has been re...