Rambling in Japan - Tsuruoka and climbing Haguro-san
I wander around Tsuruoka in Yamagata prefecture a bit, visiting one of the filming locations from the oscar-winning Japanese film Okuribito / Departures, then climb Haguro-san, one of the Dewa Sanzan sacred mountains.
Haguro-san, Dewa Sanzan - Yamagata - 羽黒山 - 4K Ultra HD
Dewa Sanzan (出羽三山) which literally means: the three mountains of Dewa, are sacred mountains in Yamagata Prefecture, each with a shrine on or near its peak including Haguro-San representing birth, Gas-san representing death and Yudono-san representing rebirth.
At the center of Dewa Sanzan worship, you will find the Shugendo religion based on mountain worshiping blending both Buddhism and Shinto traditions. Shugendo practitioners are called Yamabushi where feats of endurance are parts of their worshiping.
Unlike other temples of Dewa Sanzan, the Haguro-san top temple is accessible by car and as such it’s not only the first visited temple of them all but also the most popular! However, to appreciate the beauty of Haguro-san, it is advised, like we did, to climb the 2446 stairs to arrive on top of the mountain and enjoy the 33 figures carved into the stone steps. There enjoy the magnificent five-storied pagoda, erected in 937, located at the base of the mountain and hidden in a dense forest.
Haguro-san's main shrine holds the deities from all three Dewa Sanzan shrines, making it the most important of them all. Sanjin Gosaiden, the main building, features the thickest thatched roof in Japan with, according to the temple owners, a thickness of over two meters!
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Dewa Sanzan (出羽三山), qui signifie littéralement “les trois montagnes sacrées de Dewa, sont bel et bien trois montagnes sacrées de la préfecture de Yamagata. Chacune d’elle est accompagnée d’un sanctuaire au sommet, ou tout près, qui sont Haguro-san représentant la naissance, Gas-san pour la mort, et Yudono-san évoquant la re-naissance.
Le culte gravitant autour de Dewa Sanzan provient de la religion Shugendo, un culte propre aux montagnes, unissant les traditions Bouddhistes et Shinto. Les pratiquants du Shugendo, les Yamabushi, sont en quête de l’exploit et de l’endurance.
Contrairement au temple de Dewa Sanzan, le temple de Haguro-san est accessible en voiture est est le plus visité et le plus populaire! Cependant, afin d'apprécier la beauté de Haguro-san, il est conseillé, comme nous l’avons nous-même fait, de grimper les 2446 marches pour se rendre au sommet tout en profitant des 33 statues gravées dans la roche ainsi que la magnifique pagode de 5 étages érigée en 937, et située à la base de la montagne dissimulant une forêt dense.
Le sanctuaire principal de Haguro-san possède les divinités des trois sanctuaires de Dewa Sanzan, ce qui le rend plus important que les autres. Sanjin Gosaiden, la bâtiment principal, a le toit de chaume le plus épais du Japon, une épaisseur de 2 mètres d'après les propriétaires du temple!
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Into The Japanese Kingdom Of Sake And Mountain Spirits
Ramen-aficionado Bridie Shepherd, ventures deeper into the Japan’s hidden north. In this episode, Bridie finds herself swept up in Aomori’s spectacular lantern festival where vibrant larger-than-life floats light up the streets. Hopping onto the Gono train line that hugs the rugged Sea of Japan, Bridie next travels to Akita Prefecture — AKA the Kingdom of Sake — to down some of the purest sake in the land in one of the oldest breweries in Japan. With her Tohoku food odyssey coming to an end, Bridie drops into the isolated forests of Dewa Sanzan to meet a rare sect of mountain priests who believe the mountain’s vegetables can connect the human soul to the spirits around them. Will she find enlightenment in the food? Watch to find out now.
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Japan Yamagata region holy mountains with a long tradition of nature worship.
Among beautiful mountains in Japan Yamagata region is Dewa-sanzan, the three mountains of Dewa, (Gassan, Hagurosan, and Yudonosan) worshiped as sacred mountains. In ancient times Japanese people lived close to nature, thanked nature for its gifts, and nurtured worship of nature in their minds, related to the animism religion at the origin.
Dewa-sanzan has the tradition of Shugendo, mountain asceticism, and mountain worship, with its origins dating as far as 1400 years ago. The Shugendo is an ancient Japanese religion in which nature is worshiped as a God. In the Heian period (794-1185) when Buddhist and Shinto beliefs intermingled, the three mountains were used as a place of learning for plural religions including the Yamabushi, mountain ascetics.
The faith that draws people to the three mountains reached its peak in the Edo period (1603-1867). People had no vacations but they enjoyed journeying into the nature and visit Japanese Temples and Shrines, Priest Shokai Miyano said in a lecture. His teachings are said to be more efficient to put your life back in order than any psychoanalyst or any Dr. Prozac.
Explanations and places to visit:
Dewa sanzan - Hagurosan (Tsuruoka City)
-Three holy mountains symbolize a long tradition of nature worship -
Dewa-sanzan, the three mountains of Dewa, is the collective name for Gassan, Hagurosan, and Yudonosan, mountains that are regarded as sacred. In ancient times people believed that ancestral spirits lived in mountains and gave water to protect them they lived in nature with a feeling of awe.
Places to visit in Hagurosan:
- Haraigawa River and Suga-no-taki waterfall
Flowing down from Gassan, the Haraigawa River with a red lacquered bridge was used as the pure water where pilgrims to the three mountains bathed before climbing the mountains.
- Five-story pagoda designated as a National Treasure
Built in the Heian period, about 1000 years ago (some time in the 920s), on the orders of Masakado Taira, then rebuilt about 600 years ago, the pagoda still stands gracefully in the midst of cedar trees.
- Jiji-sugi, the old man cedar
Standing next to the five-story pagoda, this old cedar is said to be 1000 years old and is designated as a national natural treasure.
- Sanjin gosaiden, or the worship hall to the three gods at the summit of Hagurosan
With the striking thatched roof, 28 meter high and 2.1 meters thick, and a splendid red-lacquered structure that remains a characteristic of the age when Buddhist and Shinto beliefs intermingled, the shrine jointly enshrines the three gods of Gassan, Hagurosan, and Yudonosan. The pond in front of the shrine, called kagami ike, or mirror pond, has been revered as a holy pond from ancient times, the center of the faith. Many copper mirrors that people threw in as offerings in the Heian, Kamakura, and Edo period, were discovered in the pond.
- Saikan, a pilgrims lodge
Keeping the traditional style of vegetarian cuisine in Hagurosan, the lodge serves meals with ingredients including mountain vegetables and bamboo harvested at the foot of the three mountains of Dewa. It still respects the old way of seasoning. This kind of food was served to Matsuo Basho, the famous poet of the Edo period, when he came to visit the Saikan on his famous trip to northern Japan, Oku-no-Hosomichi.
- Pilgrimage road lined with Japanese cedar trees, sugi
Both sides of the 1.7-km pilgrimage road to the summit are lined with ancient cedar trees and the long stone staircase has 2,446 steps in tota!! You feel the crisp air and mysterious atmosphere in total silence. A famous French travel guide book, MICHELIN Green Guide Japon has awarded the road its highest ranking of three stars.
We did the trip with our Yamabushi guide and it was extraordinary experience of an other Japan, elevating mind and spirit and body. More physical personal journey than a session of Zen Buddhism: It should be a must doing while visiting Japan, a long time resident foreign correspondent journalist says! Report organized by The Foreign Press Center of Japan (FPCJ) Ms. Koizumi and Yoshida in cooperation with Yamagata Prefecture and Yamagata University.