S P O T ／ SPOT-360
Taroboo-gu (Aga Shrine)
太郎坊宮（阿賀神社）たろうぼうぐう あがじんじゃ
On the flank of Mount Akagami, a steep isolated peak in eastern Shiga, stands Aga Shrine — known to everyone as Taroboo-gu, the shrine of the tengu. Founded, tradition says, some 1,400 years ago by Prince Shotoku, it is a god of victory and good fortune. But the reason people climb its 740-plus stone steps is the thing waiting just before the main hall: the Meoto-iwa, the Married Rocks. Two boulders nearly 20 meters high lean in from either side, and the only way forward is a slot barely 80 centimeters wide running straight between them. Legend says the gods pushed the rocks apart, and that an honest heart passes through to have its wish granted — while a wicked one is crushed where it stands. Generations of local parents have warned their children: lie, and the rocks of Taroboo-san will get you. With the cliffside hall perched at the top and the Higashiomi plain falling away below, it is a 'shrine in the sky' where megalith worship, mountain asceticism and tengu folklore fuse into one uncanny passage of stone.
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01The Married Rocks — two boulders nearly 20m high — close in from both sides, leaving a path barely 80cm wide squeezing between them
- 02A megalith-worship legend that the honest pass through to have wishes granted, while the wicked are crushed by the rocks
- 03A cliffside 'shrine in the sky' atop 740-plus steps, guarded in folklore by the Taroboo Tengu
A C C E S S ／ M E T A
Essentials
- Location
- Shiga Prefecture Higashiomi City
- Address
- 〒527-0091 滋賀県東近江市小脇町2247
- Fee
- 拝観無料（駐車場無料／お守りづくり・祝詞書写体験は各2,000円）
- Hours
- 参拝24時間／各種受付9:00〜17:00
- Status
- 現存
- Official
- https://www.tarobo.com/
- Nearest
- 近江鉄道八日市線「太郎坊宮前」駅
- Walk
- 15 min
- Parking
- あり・無料（中腹駐車場）
- Time
- 1〜1.5時間