Kagami Shrine

Kagami Shrine

Kagami Shrine (鏡神社, Kagami Jinja) in Kagami, Ryuo Town, Gamo District, Shiga Prefecture, holds two Important Cultural Properties: a main hall of the mid-Muromachi period (1393–1466) and a stone hōkyōintō pagoda of the late Kamakura period (1275–1332), according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Kagami Shrine Main Hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1901 (the date of its original listing under the pre-1950 law), and the pagoda in 1960. Both belong to the shrine.

The shrine is dedicated to Ame-no-Hiboko (天日槍), remembered as a prince of the Korean kingdom of Silla who brought pottery-making to the area. Local tradition holds that he laid a sacred mirror (kagami) to rest here, and the Ryuo Town Tourism Association gives this as the origin of the place name. A town report links the shrine to the account of Ame-no-Hiboko in the Nihon Shoki under the third year of Emperor Suinin, and to the kiln sites for Sue ware that survive at the foot of Mount Kagami.

Kagami no Shuku and the Legend of Yoshitsune

National Route 8, which runs in front of Kagami Shrine, follows the ancient Tōsandō road and the later Nakasendō. The settlement here, Kagami no Shuku, was a busy post town from the late Heian through the Muromachi period; in the Edo period it was reduced to an intermediate stop between the Moriyama and Musa post towns (Ryuo Town Tourism Association).

The area also keeps the legend that Minamoto no Yoshitsune came of age at Kagami no Shuku on his way north to Ōshū. On the approach to Kagami Shrine stands the stump of the pine on which he is said to have hung his eboshi cap when he came to pray; the tree fell in a typhoon in 1873 and the trunk has been kept under a small roof. The Kagami no Sato coming-of-age ceremony, run by the tourism association, leads participants in procession from the Ryuo Kagami no Sato roadside station to the shrine, where the rites are held in the worship hall; in 2026 it takes place on November 22.

Where the Two Important Cultural Properties Stand

Kagami Shrine Main Hall stands in the shrine precinct on the north side of Route 8; the precinct also has the worship hall used for the coming-of-age rites.

Kagami Shrine Hokyoin Pagoda is outside the precinct, about 250 metres southwest of the main hall in a straight line, at the foot of the hill across Route 8 on the site of the former Saikōji temple. Saikōji is said to have been founded by the monk Saichō at the foot of Hoshigamine, one of the twelve peaks of Mount Kagami, and was abandoned after Oda Nobunaga's troops burned it in 1571. An octagonal stone lantern inscribed with a date in 1421 stands on the same temple site (Ryuo Town Tourism Association).

The two properties differ in age and in kind: one is a timber shrine building, the other a granite pagoda. Each has its own page describing its construction and what to look for.

Getting to Kagami Shrine and Visiting

The nearest station to Kagami Shrine is Shinohara on the JR Biwako Line, about 1.5 km from the main hall in a straight line, or roughly 20 minutes on foot. The Ryuo Town Tourism Association also suggests a bus of about 20 minutes from Omi-Hachiman Station, or the Ryuo interchange of the Meishin Expressway for drivers.

No official information from the shrine or the town on visiting hours or fees for Kagami Shrine was found. Neither the main hall nor the pagoda has any announced opening of its interior or close-up viewing, so plan to see both from outside.