Experience authentic pottery making using a potter’s wheel and coloring ceramics. You can make reservations from the homepage for the ceramics classes, but if seats are open you can also participate on the day without a reservation. An instructor will help you at every step, allowing even beginners to participate without any worries.

The Kurokabe Square building was erected during the Meiji period (1868-1912) as a bank. It is currently used as a gallery for glassware, displaying and selling such items as glass accessories and music boxes. They also offer hands-on lessons that include making glass accessories and stained glass.
【Trip Report】

Trip to Nagahama kurokabe & Bonbai Exhibition

Trip to Nagahama part.2

This small island, with a circumference of just 2km, is located in the offing of Lake Biwa, approximately 6km from shore. Here you can find both Hogonji Temple and Tsukubusuma-jinja Shrine. The Benzaiten (Sarasvati) at Hogonji Temple is known as one of the three best in Japan, and the temple also receives many visitors as the 30th location on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.
The gabled karamon gate at Hogonji Temple is said to be only remaining piece of Hideyoshi’s Osaka-jo Castle, and it is a registered national treasure alongside the main shrine at Tsukubusuma-jinja Shrine. Revered since ancient times as an island where the god of water dwells, this god has also been worshipped for providing safe passage for travel across water. The island is now widely known as one of the most powerful spots for spiritual energy on Lake Biwa, and is a place to truly experience water and prayer.

Shirahige-jinja Shrine was founded about 2,000 years ago and is one of the oldest shrines in Shiga Prefecture. It is also designated as one of the constituent cultural properties of Japan Heritage. Known as a deity of longevity and good health, the shrine is also revered as a “guiding god” who brings blessings for matchmaking, safe childbirth, good fortune, academic success, traffic safety, and maritime safety—guiding all aspects of human life and endeavors. Its iconic vermilion torii gate appears to float on Lake Biwa and is a distinctive symbol of the shrine.

(Notice) Crossing the national highway in front of Shirahige-jinja Shrine is extremely dangerous and is strictly prohibited. When photographing the torii gate in the lake, please use the designated observation platform, “Omi Shirahige-dai.”

Trip Reports :

Takashima Trip

Saikyo-ji Temple is the head of the Tendai Shinsei Sect, which has more than 450 branch temples across Japan. The grounds feature a total of four separate gardens, each styled differently and all worth seeing.
There is also a garden here in the path-around-a-pond style, with the pond itself shaped like Lake Biwa, creating a unique landscape that links Lake Biwa with prayer and imparting to all visitors the nature of prayer in the region.