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Omi-Takashima Station on the JR Kosei Line. Takashima's southern-most train station and the only train station in the Takashima-cho area. It takes about 38 min. from Kyoto. JR湖西線 近江高島駅 MAP
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Omi-Takashima Station
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Omi-Takashima Station and Kosei Line train.
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Gulliver statue on the Omi-Takashima Station train platform.
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Omi-Takashima Station
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View from Omi-Takashima Station.
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In front of Omi-Takashima Station is a large Gulliver statue.
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This is to publicize the Gulliver Youth Travel Village, a camping and recreational facility. ガリバー青少年旅行村
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Giant statue of Gulliver outside JR Takashima Station.
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A short walk from Omi-Takashima Station is Omizo Castle's patch of stone wall still remaining.
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Omizo Castle's Honmaru keep.
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Omizo Castle in Takashima was originally built by Oda Nobuzumi in 1578, a nephew of Oda Nobunaga. It was built to oversee transportation on Lake Biwa along with Azuchi, Nagahama, and Sakamoto Castles on the shores of Lake Biwa.
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All that's left is this stone foundation of Omizo Castle.
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Omizo Castle 大溝城
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On top of the stone foundation. Not very well kept.
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Pieces of concrete indicate that something was here before.
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Marker for Omizo Castle's San-no-Maru keep.
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Sign about Omizo Castle.
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Shirahige Shrine torii, Takashima. One of Lake Biwa's best-known landmarks. It faces the shrine on land. Rent a bicycle or go by taxi from Omi-Takashima Station (Kosei Line).
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My bicycle. I once cycled around Lake Biwa, taking 3 days and two nights.
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Off the shore of Takashima, with Shirahige Shrine's torii in the lake.
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Off the shore of Takashima, with Shirahige Shrine's torii in the lake. "Shirahige" means white beard, and so people pray here for long life and longevity. The shrine is dedicated to a god named Sarutahiko. 白鬚神社
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Shirahige Shrine faces a very busy road with no crosswalk to the lake.
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Shirahige Shrine is Shiga's oldest shrine with regard to the founding date. 白鬚神社
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Shirahige Shrine's torii in Lake Biwa. The torii is a smaller version of the much more famous one in Miyajima (Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture).
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Looking toward the lake from Shirahige Shrine.
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Inside the Haiden Hall of Shirahige Shrine. People also pray at the shrine for finding a good marriage partner, conceiving a child, academic excellence (passing college entrance exams), and water/boating safety.
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Haiden on left and Honden Hall on right.
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Haiden on right and Honden on left.
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Side view of Shirahige Shrine.
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Side view of Shirahige Shrine.
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Looking toward Lake Biwa.
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Next to Shirahige Shrine is Wakamiya Shrine, and more smaller shrines in the rear.
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Matsuo Basho haiku monument.
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Murasaki Shikibu poem monument
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Map of Shirahige Shrine.
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On the hillside between Omi-Takashima Station and Shirahige Shrine, there is a cemetery with 33 large stone buddhas. MAP
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They are called the Kamogawa 48 Stone Buddhas. They were originally made in 1553 by Sasaki Rokkaku Yoshikata (佐々木六角 義賢), lord of Kannonji Castle in Azuchi in memory of his deceased mother.
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Originally, there were 48 stone buddhas. Only 33 remain now. Thirteen of them were moved to Sakamoto in Otsu, and 2 were stolen. Although they stand upright, it's possible that they can fall on you, especially if you've been bad.
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The stone buddhas are about 1.6 meter tall, made of granite.
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Shirahige-no-Hama Beach in Takashima. I know they did some filming here for the NHK Taiga Drama "Go" where she rides on horseback. 白ひげの浜
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Shirahige-no-Hama Beach and Lake Biwa in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture.
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Entrance to Haginohama Beach. 萩の浜
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A small stream empties into Lake Biwa through Haginohama Beach. Numerous streams and rivers like this one feed water to the lake.
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A small stream empties through Haginohama Beach
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Haginohama Beach in Takashima.
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Monument dedicated to the eight college rowers from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture and three rowers from Kyoto who died while rowing in waters off Haginohama beach on April 6, 1941..
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They encountered strong winds from the Hira mountains. The boys from Kanazawa were students at the No. 4 High School 第四高等学校 which today is Kanazawa University.
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They also planted many cherry trees along the shore, but the trees recently died.
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Entering Takashima-cho from Adogawa. (I was bicycling.)
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River mouth
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There was a green belt called Kamogawa Katsuno Enchi. It was basically a beach park.
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Kamogawa Katsuno Enchi park in Takashima. 鴨川勝野園地
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The sand is not as nice.
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This is close to Haginohama Beach.
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