White Tiger tower of Heian-jingu, Kyoto

The four cardinal points are traditionally associated with Shishin, 4 mythological animals: Seiryuu, the green-blue dragon of the East, Byakko, the white tiger of the West, Suzaku, the red phoenix of the South and Genbu, the snake-headed black turtle of the North. The 4 animals are believed to ward off evil and misfortune, so they are often represented on building walls, on their cardinal directions.

In the Heian-jingu complex, which is a smaller scale reproduction of the old Imperial palace of Heian-kyo, the two towers ar positioned and named after their corresponding Shishin: the west tower, photographed here, is Byakko-ro "White Tiger Tower" and the east tower is Soryu-ro "Blue Dragon Tower".