Omoto Park
Coastal grove of centuries-old fir trees fronted by a shingle-roofed shrine older than its famous neighbor.
This guide to Omoto Park in Hiroshima centers on Omoto Shrine and its eighteen-layered shingle roof, opening with the slightly ragged Momotesai archery ceremony a priest performs there every January 20th, missing his target twice before a third try connects. From there it turns to the shrine's uncertain age: local legend claims it predates even the famous vermilion torii of nearby Itsukushima Shrine, though the only real clue is a wooden pole inked with a date in 1443. The current building itself dates to a 1523 reconstruction, its roof stacked in a shingling technique found nowhere else in Japan.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.