Benten-dō

This small chapel was built in 1930 to mark the thousandth anniversary of Emperor Daigo's death, but the deity it honors, Benzaiten, reaches back much further. As the only female figure among the Seven Deities of Good Fortune, she traces her origins to the Hindu goddess of wisdom and music and is almost always depicted holding a biwa lute. The chapel stands on a small island in a koi pond, reached by an arched bridge, with its white walls and vermillion woodwork reflecting in the water below. The interior altar is only visible through a lattice screen, but the setting draws photographers throughout the year, particularly in autumn when the surrounding maple and ginkgo trees turn red and gold.