Iwashimizu Hachimangu

Otokoyama is only 143 metres high, but it stands where the Kizu, Uji and Katsura rivers meet to form the Yodo, facing Mount Tennozan across the water, on the old route between Kyoto and Osaka. In 859 the monk Gyokyo brought the god Hachiman here from Usa in Kyushu to guard the capital. The present buildings were rebuilt under the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, and in 2016 ten of them, the main hall included, were designated National Treasures. The shrine describes its honden as the oldest and largest surviving main hall in the hachiman-zukuri style. The easy way up is the cable car from beside Keihan's Iwashimizu-hachimangu Station: three minutes and 300 yen one way, then about five minutes on foot. Even then there are steps to the gate, and the old approach on foot climbs through woods from the bottom. One stop on the hilltop surprises people. Thomas Edison used madake bamboo from around Otokoyama for the filament of his incandescent bulb, and a monument to him stands on the grounds, where people from the power industry gather on his birthday, 11 February, and around 18 October. The gate is open 6:00 to 18:00 and entry is free.