A floating temple hall in Lake Biwa, to provide you a beautiful scenery.

Mangetsu-ji Temple (満月寺), known as the Ukiumi-do (浮御堂) is a floating temple in Katata on the southwest of Lake Biwa. The Ukiumi-do is creating a fantastic scenery as if the temple were floating on the lake. A view from the floating temple, Lake Biwa is exceptionally beautiful. The scenery here has been loved by countless people since ancient times, even the famous haiku master Matsuo Basho. Now It is designated as one of the 8 beautiful landscapes of Shiga.

The Ukimi-do creates magical atomospere under the full moon (the word “mangetsu” means full moon in Japanese). Visitors can enjoy viewing the full moon and the temple floating in the dark.

In the Heian Period (794-1185) the monk Genshin built the Ukiumi-do in the middle of the lake to enshrine 1,000 statues of the Amida Buddha he carved in order to pray for salvation and safety for all the people living on the lake. The current existing structure is rebuilt in 1937, retaining the original construction.

The Kannon-do hall in the temple grounds also contains an Important Cultural Property in the form of a statue of Sho Kannon. The temple has became a place of worshipers for safety on the lake, and faith concerning water.