Exploring Shirahige Shrine Lake Biwa and its great torii gate, seen from the shrine grounds

As I stepped onto the shrine grounds, I spotted the torii in the lake beyond the national road. It was the same shape I’d seen in photos, but the sheer breadth of water around it caught me off guard. I’d come on a May afternoon in a mint top and white miniskirt, and I stopped in my tracks as I walked along the path. I thought I’d come just to see the gate, but before long I was gazing at the distant mountains beyond it, too.

To my right stood Aiko Shirahige-dai, a lookout with red stairs built in front of the shrine office for views of the torii in the lake. Rather than getting closer to the water, I could take in the whole scene from the shrine grounds and really see the gate standing in the lake. It felt less like looking at a single structure and more like seeing a feature of the lake’s landscape.

I’d heard Shirahige Shrine is affectionately called “Shirahige-san” and “Myojin-san,” and that people come here to pray for a long and healthy life. Once I knew that, my own prayer came easily: I hope I can keep traveling in good health for a long time. I’d be happy to see this same lake again on my next visit. That feeling came to me before I could think of any grand wish.

There’s also a monument on the grounds engraved with a poem from a visit by the married couple Tekkan and Akiko Yosano. I wondered if people who looked out over this lake long ago had felt the urge to put something into words, too. I reached for my phone, then slipped it away again. Before taking a picture, I wanted to remember a little more of how vast it felt, so I slowly followed the water on either side of the torii with my eyes.

By the time I’d finished praying, I was starting to think about lunch. Takashima has a local dish called Takashima tonchan: chicken coated in miso sauce. From the name alone, I’d pictured pork—but it’s chicken. I found out you can also cook it with vegetables or serve it with fried udon noodles, and suddenly even dinner back home sounded exciting.

Just before leaving the grounds, I looked back and saw the lake spread out beyond the pine branches, too. The shape of the torii is easy to remember, but the lake’s vastness feels impossible to take home in a single photo. Maybe that’s why I want to come back. As I walked along, I started planning time to try tonchan on my next trip to Takashima, too.