Horaisan Jinja Shrine

This vermilion shrine traces its origins to 773 and draws visitors who come to pray for good luck, prosperity, and business success. Its name, meaning the mountain that attracts treasure, reflects its historical position near an important river docking area where goods and tribute once arrived by boat. The four individual halls in the main compound are periodically reconstructed in the same configuration as their 1614 emplacement. Nearby, a series of canals built in the late Heian period by the priest Mongaku Shonin still channels water to surrounding rice fields, a piece of medieval hydraulic engineering that has kept the landscape productive for over eight centuries.