3 Years in Sendai - 17 - Haguro Dewa Sanzan

The three sacred mountains of Yamagata are known as the Dewa Sanzan. “Sanzan” simply means “three mountains,” and “Dewa” is the name of the old province that became modern day Yamagata Prefecture. The three mountains of Dewa Sanzan are Mount Haguro (414m), Mount Gassan (1,984m), and Mount Yudono. These mountains have been of great spiritual significance to Shinto and Bhuddist ascetics for over 1,400 years, and they are still important to believers to this day.

Mt. Haguro is a relatively small mountain with a peak at only 414 meters above sea level, but it is particularly significant in its role as the “front entrance” to the other two mountains of Dewa Sanzan, Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono. Additionally, Mt. Haguro is also known throughout Japan and internationally as an invaluable cultural treasure for its five-story pagoda. You can experience Mt. Haguro’s cultural legacy yourself in a unique yearly event that allows you to take part in traditional Yamabushi mountain ascetic training. This renowned Yamabushi training is only possible at Mt. Haguro.

The 2,446 step stone stairway leading to the peak of Mt. Haguro is said to be the oldest in Japan, and the colonnade of cedar trees that can be seen on this path is classified as a Natural Monument of Japan. Along the way to the peak stands the Five-Story Pagoda. This is significant as a symbol of Mt. Haguro, and it has been designated as an Important Cultural Asset of Japan. On the summit of Mt. Haguro is the Gosaiden Temple. Gosaiden Temple is unique in Japan as a temple that venerates not just one, but all three sacred mountains. Elements such as a 2.1 meter roof made from kaya trees and a fully lacquer interior come together to create a truly awe-inspiring temple.

Dewa Sanzan, the three Mountains of Dewa, hold a special place in the hearts of the Japanese. The mountains were first opened as a religious center 1400 years ago in 593 by prince Hachiko, the first-born son of the then reigning Emperor. Sushun, who was the 32nd emperor of Japan.

When prince Hachiko came to Haguro, he went through difficult and severe ascetic exercises. After enduring a period of penance, it is said that he saw an incarnation of Buddha and was then inspired to build shrines on Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono.

Mount Hguro is considered sacred by followers of Japan’s Shinto religion and of Shugendo, an ancient Japanese tradition of mountain worship whose practitioners are commonly known as yamabushi (“those who lie in the mountains”). Taking their faith very seriously, they come every year on a pilgrimage to worship their deities.

Most of the information were taken off  the Internet as  I  never really paid too much attention to the statistics but was more absorbed in the act of being in the place,  like being present and touching the heart and essence of what it was like beeing in such a high powere spiritual site.

This shrine is the Sanjin Gosaiden, the largest wooden building with a thatched roof in Japan and another two-starred treasure that is featured in the Michelin Green Guide Japan.The present structure is from 1818 but its history is reaching much further back in time. Looking at the impressive over two meters thick thatched roof, you don’t want to image the amount of labor that goes into repairing it.  

The journey of a lifetime can never be shared when it happens within, it is no more a statisitce or a measurement, it cannot be described without loosing its quality of truth and holiness, Haguro was my Satori experience. While wandering around like a lost soul struggling up those steps through the pine forest I felt my heart shed all perceptions and only knew i was in the heart of eternity, how can one share this feeling without sounding loco?

I envy Matsuo Basho and wiht all my heart praise his courage and  passion towards what he saw was his cause which today has place the expression of 'Haiku' as an art in the International Artistic Scene. had Basho not taken his journey Haiku most probably would not have its place as it does today. As i walked up into the mountain my mind became silent with every step and i felt Basho's presence as though he was walking ahead of me and I tried to keep up with him lost in my thoughtless realm of Being.

On top of Mount Haguro there are a number of temples and shrines, although this is said to be a shrine complex. It just shows that Buddhism and Shinto were entwined before the two religions were forcefully separated in Japan’s Meiji Restoration, the events that events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 and that heralded the begin of a new era in Japan.

Yet I felt the melancholy that is always present when i reached the top as the adage of, "and this too will pass.." came to  mind. My journey up the mountain and the out of the ordinary sights and scenes that I saw, the inner feelings that was evoked , all these would soon be forgotten and the only memories that i could keep were those that i kept in my sketchbook.

A short walk will bring you to a centuries-old wooden pagoda and nearby you will also find a cedar that is said to be 1,400 years old. It is marked by a sacred rope. Actually there were two of them and they were thought of as a “couple” but one was destroyed by lighting. The remaining ancient cedar stands proud amongst its younger cousins that are “only” a few hundred years old. In any case, all of these cedars are older than we will ever get.

An enormous iron bell near the Sanjin Gosaiden shrine is inscribed with the year 1275 and is said to have been donated by the Yamakura Shogun, who was thankful for having repulsed the Mongol fleet from China the year before. It is the largest cast bell in northern Japan, and the third largest in the country. It is 3.14 meters tall, with a diameter of 1.85 meters, and weighs 10 tons.