Overview
The name means pure water, from the Otowa spring that still falls in three channels below the stage; visitors queue to drink from one of them with long-handled cups. The stage was where pilgrims once jumped in the belief that surviving the thirteen-metre fall would grant a wish — records list 234 attempts in the Edo period and a survival rate around 85 per cent. A complete re-roofing finished in 2020, so the cypress-bark roof is currently at its best.
Highlights
Arrive at six when the gates open; by ten the approach streets are a slow queue and the stage is shoulder to shoulder. Jishu Shrine behind the hall has two stones set eighteen metres apart, walked between with eyes closed for luck in love. The walk down through Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka is the finest preserved street in Kyoto and is best done in the same early hours.