Page "Biwa hōshi" Paragraph 23

Locations whose name contain the characters or sounds “ biwa ” also have sanctified lore.

Lake Biwa is famous for Chikubushima, where Taira no Tsunemasa performs at the Benzaiten shrine, whose deity appears in the form of a white dragon.

Especially in Kyushu, there are biwa hills, valleys, ponds, and bridges throughout Japan, where performers supposedly buried or offered instruments to the locales ’ waters.

Other legends of certain sects and accounts from ancient texts further the sacred associations of the biwa instrument.