Shinobazu no Ike Bentendō

The Shinobazu no Ike Bentendo stands on an artificial island in the center of a lotus-filled pond, recognizable by its bright vermillion octagonal roof. In the early seventeenth century, the monk Tenkai built this hall to mimic the famous shrine on Chikubushima island in Lake Biwa. He intended to bring the blessings of the goddess Benzaiten to the Tokugawa shogunate. During the final battle of the Boshin War in eighteen sixty-eight, the building served as a last refuge for the defeated Shogitai samurai.