The Water Gate at Hakone Shrine

Today we continue the virtual tour of Hakone Shrine with a trip to the water gate. In the Shintō faith, torii (the red-orange gate in the images) mark the boundary between the secular and the sacred – though on occasion, it often seems that the areas on both sides of the torii are equally sacred. The water gate at Hakone Shrine is one of those places. The gate sits on the shore of Lake Ashi, and marks the entrance to the shrine precinct. According to legend, during the 9th or 10th century, a Shintō priest persuaded the dragon that lives in Lake Ashi