ABOUT
About this spot
Hiyoshi Taisha is a shrine at the foot of Mt. Hiei in Sakamoto, Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, and the head shrine of about 3,800 Hiyoshi, Hie and Sanno shrines around Japan. Its grounds of about 400,000 square meters, centered on the Nishi Hongu (West Main Shrine) and the Higashi Hongu (East Main Shrine), are a national historic site. The date of its founding is unclear, but the Kojiki records the deity Oyamakui dwelling in a rock on Mt. Hachioji, the oldest record of the shrine. When the monk Saicho founded a temple on Mt. Hiei in 788, the shrine became its guardian. After the capital moved to Heian-kyo in 794 it was revered as protection against evil from the northeast. The buildings burned in 1571 and were rebuilt and repaired between 1586 and about 1597, and most surviving structures date from that Momoyama-period work. The main halls of both Hongu are National Treasures built in a distinctive style called Hiyoshi-zukuri with cypress-bark roofs. Look for the Sanno torii gate topped with a gable, monkey carvings under the eaves of the Nishi Hongu tower gate (monkeys are the shrine's messengers), and the three stone bridges known as the Hiyoshi Sanbashi, all Important Cultural Properties. The grounds have about 3,000 maple trees, usually at their best from mid to late November. Hours are 9:00 to 16:00. Allow 30 to 40 minutes for the two Hongu alone, or about an hour to walk the whole grounds. Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei, which the shrine once guarded, stands higher up the mountain.
Last updated October 22, 2026