The torii is the gate of the shrine and means the entrance to the sacred area. There is a very big torii gate in Heian Jingu in Kyoto.

In Miyajima of Hiroshima Prefecture, which island is wholly a secred area, there is a large torii gate in the sea. It means that the main way to reach to the sacred area of Itsukushima Shrine was ships.

Shirahige Shrine in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, also has a torii gate in a lake. Though this is not an island, the fact that the torii is in the lake means that the way to visit this shrine used to be mainly by ships. Pictures of “Celebrated Places of Omi（近江名所図）” which was painted in 16th Century show that the torii of this shrine already stood in the lake at that time.

The torii is located east of the main shrine on the land side, so it is very beautiful with the morning sun shines on the lake.

I visited early in the new year. There were many people to see this scenery.