Saruka Shrine

**Morning, and early.** Lotus open at dawn and shut by around midday. Arriving at two in the afternoon in August means a pond full of leaves and no flowers. **Mid-July to mid-August.** Outside that window there is a shrine and a park and no lotus. The peak is usually the last week of July. **Mt. Iwaki is the backdrop.** The park is laid out with the volcano to the west, which on a clear morning gives you lotus in the foreground and a symmetrical peak behind. **It is an eye shrine.** Saruka is prayed to for the eyes, and the votive plaques reflect that — a specific and slightly unusual local devotion worth noticing. **Free, with 200 parking spaces.** No admission anywhere on the site, which for a lotus garden of this size is unusual.