Bentenjima Red Torii

photo by Zhaotian201512 · CC BY 4.0

Planted in the water of Lake Hamana: its official name is ‘tourism symbol tower’.

The torii, officially ‘観光シンボルタワー’ (tourism symbol tower), stands in the water of Lake Hamana in front of Bentenjima Marine Park, a 500-metre promenade between palm trees and the beach. It is the most photographed spot in the area for the sunset over the lake; clam digging, once the spring outing, has been banned across the whole lake since March 2026.

The red torii stands in the water south of Bentenjima and is officially called the ‘tourism symbol tower’ (観光シンボルタワー): it is the spot for watching the sunsets over Lake Hamana. It is in front of Bentenjima Marine Park, a strip 500 m long with a promenade among the palm trees, lawns and beach; in summer you can swim there. Clam digging, which used to be the spring outing here, has been banned since March 2026 across the whole of Lake Hamana for anyone who is not a fisherman: the fishing cooperative stopped it because the 2025 catch was zero.

ℹ️ Park and shore always open; the car park costs 410 yen. At the entrance to the park is the Maisaka tourist office (舞阪町観光協会), which hands out the official leaflet for the series, hires out bicycles and keeps the stamp of the ‘88 sacred places of anime’. On the seafront there is a permanent panel with the map of the places. You see the torii from the shore: you cannot reach it on foot. On the first Saturday of July the Bentenjima fireworks are held on the lake (4 July in 2026). For about a month before and after the winter solstice, the sun sets within the torii.

🚉 Bentenjima · 10 min walk

Gabriel DropOut

The fourth episode takes place almost entirely here: the four of them spend the day on the marine park's beach and Satania tries to stand up on a dolphin-shaped inflatable ring, with the red torii behind her. In the background you can recognise the expressway's Hamana Bridge and the Hamanako Resort & Spa The Ocean hotel, and even the toilet block behind Gabriel is reproduced. The beach as drawn is wider than the real one, which is half concrete on the landward side. The torii already appears in the first episode, in the view of the lake from above, and the beach episode ends on the sun setting behind it.

photo by Zhaotian201512 · CC BY 4.0

Gabriel DropOut — Ukami · KADOKAWA / ASCII Media Works · anime Doga Kobo (2017)

All the places from Gabriel DropOut →

Sources: hamamatsu-daisuki.net · ameblo.jp · ameblo.jp · riyot.hatenablog.com · seichijunrei-susume.com · bentenjima.jp · hellonavi.jp · hamanagyokyo.or.jp · hamanako-zaidan.or.jp · at-s.com

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