The Mongols' invasion was thwarted by the prayers of the priests of Mt. Haguro, and as a sign of appreciation, the government sent a giant bell-sized present to be adorned at the summit of Haguro-san. Or, at least, somehow the bell appeared at the summit.
At 2.85m-tall, 1.67m in circumference and 21.5cm thickness, the 10t bell is the third biggest in Japan, yet no one knows precisely how it came to be there. Was it forged somewhere else and somehow carried up to the top of Haguro-san, some 350 or so years before the stone stairway even existed? Was a mould brought up to the summit, and the bell was forged there? Was the mould made up there?
🌲 The Thousand Steps of Mount Haguro
I climbed the Thousand Stone Steps of Mount Haguro, in the footsteps of the old wanderer-poet Matsuo Bashō.
The forest was deep—ancient pines rose like silent monks watching over the path. Every few turns, I passed small wooden rest houses, built in traditional Japanese carpentry, perched on the slopes like gentle shrines for the weary. They invited pause, sketching, and quiet breath.
Each step was a step beyond time.
Each breeze through the trees whispered something I had once forgotten.
I was no longer a tourist. I was no longer searching.
I was home, and my soul knew it.
“Lost in space and time,
I found myself on old stone—
Bashō’s wind still speaks.”
Sometimes, the path is not only a climb—but a return to what has always been waiting for you.
#MountHaguro #ThousandSteps #DewaSanzanPilgrimage #MatsuoBashoTrail #ZenInNature #SpiritualJourney #ForestSanctuary #YamagataPrefecture #HaikuPilgrimage #SacredJapan #WalkingMeditation #AncientPaths #FoundInSilence
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