MUST-SEE mountain in north Japan

Join Tak and Tim Bunting AKA The Kiwi Yamabushi as they explore the unknown but very much fun hidden side of the most visited peak of the Dewa Sanzan, Mt. Haguro.

While these days Mt. Haguro is more famous for its stone stairway that weaves through the towering cedars, passing the Haraigawa River, Suganotaki Falls, The Grandfather Cedar, the majestic Five Story Pagoda, Ninosaka Chaya Teahouse, Minamidani, The Southern Valley where Matsuo Basho stayed, the former Kezoin Temple at Saikan, and of course Sanjingosaiden, home to Dewa Sanzan Shrine, it turns out this side is only half the story.

Now known as the Haguro Kodo (羽黒古道）, the ancient Haguro path, this path from Hachiko to the summit of Mt. Haguro is the purported original path that Prince Hachiko took as he opened the mountains for religious training over 1425 years ago.

The Haguro Kodo is said to have prospered up until the Edo period (1603 to 1868), when literally millions of pilgrims each year ventured to the sacred Dewa Sanzan. You see, in those days travel between different regions of Japan was forbidden except for the higher classes, or those on religious pilgrimages. In other words, a religious pilgrimage was one way normal people could go and see other parts of this fair land, and many opted to visit the Dewa Sanzan.

If you’re familiar with Kabuki, you may have heard the story Kanjincho in which the famous warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune, travelling with his porter Benkei, disguises himself as a Yamabushi to get through one of the checkpoints. This story also formed the basis for Akira Kurosawa’s The Men who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail. Minamoto no Yoshitsune is said to have stayed with Benkei in Goshonoji Shrine in Kiyokawa near the Haguro Kodo on their way to Hiraizumi in the modern-day Iwate prefecture.

Pilgrims would come off the Mogami River at the Kiyokawa checkpoint located at the base of the Tachiyazawa River, pay their respects at Goshonoji Shrine, and then climb Mt. Haguro using the Haguro Kodo.

The Haguro Kodo is also said to have been the path Matsuo Basho used to climb the Dewa Sanzan while composing Japan’s quintessential collection of Haiku, Oku no Hosomichi, The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Needless to say, I was very much intrigued to explore this unique part of the Dewa Sanzan’s often conflicting, often sketchy, history for myself.

See my detailed article on Mt. Haguro including a climbing guide at: https://www.timbunting.com/haguro or my 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata project at https://www.timbunting.com/mountains.

I blog daily about my Yamabushi lifestyle at https://www.timbunting.com/blog and post regularly on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok all @kiwiyamabushi. I've recently been enjoying ClubHouse as well @kiwiyamabushi.

Support my work on Patreon:
  / kiwiyamabushi​  

You can join authentic Yamabushi training with Yamabushido. Visit https://www.Yamabushido.jp​​

Learn about the Dewa Sanzan (where I became an official Yamabushi) with this website I made:
https://www.dewasanzan.com​

Learn about becoming a Yamabushi in this video:
   • Unraveling the Mysterious World of Yamabus...  ​​

And my most viewed video is about how Japanese people can be Shinto and Buddhist at the same time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKo0t...

Any questions or comments please just ask! I also recently started selling Horagai, the Yamabushi conches, if you want one, reach out :)

#Hagurosan #100mountainsofyamagata #Japantravel