Nearest station
Midoriko
JR Chūo Line
Nagano-ken, Shiojiri-shi, Shiojirimachi
長野県塩尻市塩尻町
弁財天 (小坂田)
Benzaiten (Osakada)
Home page: none
July 19, 2018
Enshrined Kami:
Main
(Note: numbers in parentheses after kami names
refer to position in How Many Kami table)
From Merged Shrines
None
In-ground Shrines:
None
Annual Festival:
I found this small Benzaiten by chance while walking round Lake Osakada. I was walking from north to south and on arrival at the lake had to decide whether to take the east or west side road: for no particular reason I chose the former and within a few minutes came across the shrine. I have been unable to find any information about it except that on a small notice board in the shrine. This mostly concerns itself with Benzaiten herself, but does tell us that the shrine was built in 1932 on a floating bridge on the surface of the lake and was painted a bright vermilion. In 1949, however, the levees around the lake were strengthened, raising the water level and the shrine was moved to its present location, about 1.5k from Midoriko Station.