Discovering the temple in the largest lake in Japan

A search group in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, found the remains of a temple shrine dating back hundreds of years in the lake.

Find an ancient temple under the lake

On November 4, Ei Nakayama, a 27-year-old bachelor at Shiga County University, announced the discovery of eight artificial columns that stood upright at Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. Although Japan has a long history with frequently changing terrain due to seismic and volcanic activity, this is the first time the ruins of a temple have been found underwater.

According to Rocket News 24, Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan and one of the oldest lakes in the world. Located near Kyoto and Osaka, the lake is often referred to in ancient documents dating back hundreds of years. Legend has it that there are many ruins in the lake in ancient times, but there is no scientific evidence of their existence.

Stone pillars belong to an ancient temple located nearly 200 years beneath the lake.(Photo: Shiga University University).

In 1997, Professor Hiromichi Hayashi of Shiga County University began searching for some ruins. By comparing the locations of landmarks and other sites around the lake, he tried to use extrapolation to find their location underwater.

After Hayashi retired in 2011, a group of students volunteered to continue his search. Based on Hayashi's notes, the group decided to focus on the area off Nagahama city. In August 2014, they found stone columns 100m from the mainland and 1.8m below the surface of the water.

Subsequent studies of the region's history and environment indicate that the ruins belong to a Shinto shrine , honoring Chinjugami, the god of house and land protection. However, the Bunsei Omi earthquake in 1819 caused the ground to fall at the foot of the temple. The temple is swept under the lake and lies here for nearly 200 years.