Karasaki Jinja Shrine
This is the legendary spot where Ōnamuchi arrived by boat from Nara, revealed himself to be a deity, and convinced a warrior named Koto no Mitachi Ushimaru to build a shrine and serve there as priest. That shrine is now Nishi Hongū (Western Main Shrine) of Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine. Karasaki Jinja, which was established in 692, enshrines Ushimaru’s wife, Wakesuki-hime no Mikoto. She is renowned for healing gynecological disorders.
The pines of Karasaki have been celebrated in Japanese poetry and art for centuries. The first-generation tree is mentioned in the eighth-century poetry collection Man’yōshū. The second-generation pine is depicted in one of the iconic Eight Views of Ōmi by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) and in a haiku poem written by Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) which is inscribed on a wooden plaque near the large, third-generation tree that stands behind the shrine.