（１８０）　Ｂｉｗａ　Ｉｓｌａｎｄ　ｉｎ　Ｌａｋｅ　Ｎｏｊｉｒｉ　　

On Lake Nojiri, there is Biwa Island (commonly known as Benten Island) where Uga Shrine is located, and the sightseeing boat anchors there for 15 minutes. During that time, we visited Uga Shrine.

All of Biwa Island is Uga Shrine. You can visit Uga Shrine from the beginning of the lake opening at the end of April until the festival in November. It is closed in winter.

Uga Shrine is an old shrine that is said to have been built in 730. The worship hall is located at the highest point on Biwa Island, and we have to climb the stairs and the sloped path to the shrine. There are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd torii on the way.

Each torii has a plaque that says 'Uga Shrine'.
The first torii plaque was written by Katsu Kaishu, and the third torii plaque was written by Saigo Takamori's younger brother, Saigo Jyutoku. These plaques have been damaged by the wind and snow, so now replicas are used, and the originals are preserved.

We got off the pleasure boat and climbed the stairs and slopes to the front shrine.

宇賀神社
https://ugajinja.jp/index.html#sec5



1 I dashed off from the pleasure boat.


2 This is the first torii of Uga Shrine. The plaque of "Uga Shrine" is a replica of Kaishu Katsu's calligraphy. You can see the stairs leading up. It looks a little difficult to climb. The people walking are those who are on the same boat as us.


3 I’m climbing the slope to the shrine.


4 I climbed up to the third torii. The plaque of "Uga Shrine" is a replica of Jonoku Saigo's calligraphy. There were many stairs that were difficult for a Chihuahua to climb, so Mom was holding me most of the way.


5 I’m in front of the worship hall.